Posted on 04/26/2004 9:49:27 AM PDT by neverdem
State looks at enacting its own law
As Congress haggles over whether to renew the nation's 1994 ban on assault weapons, some state lawmakers want Pennsylvania to enact its own.
State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Pittsburgh) has authored a bill to outlaw assault weapons in Pennsylvania, saying it's needed because Congress is dragging its feet on extending the federal ban that expires in September.
Some local Republicans oppose Frankel's plan and some won't commit either way yet, while York County's only Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Stephen Stetler (D-York City) supports it.
Backed by then-President Bill Clinton, the federal ban outlaws 19 specific weapons, such as the Russian AK-47, the Israeli Uzi and the Intratec Tec-9.
President George W. Bush has said he supports an extension of the ban, but critics say his support is tepid and the issue is expected to heat up as the general election nears.
A Democratic-backed proposal to extend the ban collapsed in the U.S. Senate in March, and it is unclear whether Congress will approve it.
The National Rifle Association is working to end the federal ban, saying it has been ineffective and will lead to more restrictions.
Proponents of the ban say it has made streets safer. They often cite U.S. Justice Department figures showing that crimes involving the banned firearms have dropped by nearly 66 percent.
Frankel said his bill is tougher than the 1994 federal law because it has generic definitions of weapons to prevent gun makers from issuing new assault weapons with new names and designs.
Frankel's measure prohibits the sale, possession or manufacturing of weapons that have certain features, such as semiautomatic weapons with a detachable magazine.
His bill has a grandfather clause that allows weapons that are legally possessed now as long as they are registered and the owner submits to a background check.
A handful of states, including New York and New Jersey, have already passed their own bans. Maryland has banned assault pistols.
Frankel tried to draw attention to the issue last weekend at the NRA's annual convention in Pittburgh by marching to the event with the father of a victim of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
But Frankel and Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was killed at Columbine, were turned away by a security guard at the doors to Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Stetler co-sponsored Frankel's bill, but he did not return a call seeking comment on it.
Of the bill's 22 co-sponsors, all but one are Democrats. The lone Republican is Rep. Melissa Murphy Weber (R-Montgomery) a freshman and former prosecutor in her home county.
With little Republican support, some lawmakers say the bill is a longshot in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
"I don't think the bill has a chance," said Rep. Bruce Smith (R-Dillsburg).
Smith opposes it, as does Rep. Steven Nickol (R-Hanover).
Nickol said individual state bans are problematic because criminals will go to other states for guns.
"The only people who will be inconvenienced are law-abiding people like gun collectors," Nickol said.
"The difficulty is that the Second Amendment is strongly protected by the Legislature, and Second Amendment advocates care about their rights," Smith said.
Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus) read the bill but said he needs to learn more about the issue before committing. He suspects the types of guns impacted by the bill aren't the types that most law-abiding people would own, but he said he couldn't be sure yet.
"The way it's described here (in the bill), it doesn't seem all that onerous. But I'm not an expert and I'd like to hear more," Miller said.
With A RINO like her, who needs rats?
Suppose they weren't. So? The fact that the majority of people don't own or wish to own a certain type of weapon, or anything for that matter, doesn't mean that possession should be banned. Ferraris aren't the type of cars that most law-abiding car owners would own either. Shall we ban them, based on this fact?
The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The Second Amendment doesn't say "the right to keep and bears arms is protected, so long as they are of a type generally and widely owned and agreed to be allowed by the majority of people likely to own them at all."
But this is a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issue, since it is a Commonwealth Representative who wishes to enact the assault weapon ban.
So, let's refer to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Constitution.
Inherent Rights of Mankind Section 1. All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of and liberty,
Right to Bear Arms Section 21. The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.
Reservation of Powers in People Section 25. To guard against the transgressions of the high powers which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall forever remain inviolate.
Any such law to ban assault weapons in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by the Commonwealth's legislature would violate the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Amazingly, not one Republican legislator mentions the Constitution in their remarks.
No, I should have said "predictably."
The continuing push by the traitors to turn God-given RIGHTS into government issued PRIVILEDGES.
Never register your weapons people, you're a fool if you do.
Relatively small, ugly guns.
Is the law being submitted to the voters, or rammed down their throats by liberal politicians? I suspect the latter.
Howard Metzanbaum: What good does it do to ban some guns. All guns should be banned.
Janet Reno: Gun registration is not enough.
Noah Webster: Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.
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