Wednesday Gun News

I should note the passage of a gun bill in the PA State Legislature Monday night (sorry I’m getting around to this only now).

Yes, I’m serious (and by a vote of 50-0, no less). As noted here…

One part of the bill would compel police departments to trace all illegal firearms confiscated from those under the age of 21 and report the guns to a state-police-run registry. The other would expand the definition of firearm under state law to include long-guns such as rifles and shotguns, providing more uniform application of state law.

Though these are “baby steps” in the right direction (but progress all the same), what would really help would be if we could trace all illegal firearms confiscated from those over the age of 21 also. But oh no; see, that’s where that nasty little “Tiahrt/Shelby” amendment kicks in.

As noted here, the original Tiahrt language was taken out of an appropriations bill by Senate Dem Barbara Mikulski, only to be put back by Repug Richard Shelby with more strident language…two versions exist at the moment, one each in the U.S. House and Senate, and the Senate version includes the particularly odious provision that would threaten law enforcement officials with prison time for using gun tracing data beyond a specific investigation, say, for identifying and targeting gun trafficking patterns, as stated in this editorial.

And John Lott weighed in yesterday in the Inquirer to tell us, once again, that the “real” problem isn’t the amount of guns on the street, but that Philadelphia “simply isn’t doing such a great job of law enforcement” (I’ll give him $20 if he summons the guts to say that in front of a room full of cops).

And speaking of smoke and mirrors on the gun issue, the NRA recently stopped the practice of handing our passes to Sesame Place in Middletown Township, PA in return for donations to its legislative action fund (here). However, Anheuser Busch is running about neck-in-neck with the NRA when it comes to putting money over the lives of our kids for discontinuing this practice at Sesame Place, but allowing it at its other theme parks (oh, but they’re not as “kid friendly”? Please).

Meanwhile, the funeral for Tykeem Law, a little boy shot while riding his bicycle in an apparent case of “road rage,” will take place at 9 a.m. next Tuesday at New Hope Temple Baptist Church, 711 South 12th St. in Philadelphia (allegedly the suspect, Charles T. “Chuckie” Meyers, didn’t think the 14-year-old boy was riding quickly enough in front of him while he drove, so instead of just hitting his horn, he plugged him).