Posted on 10/03/2006 11:27:06 AM PDT by neverdem
HARRISBURG -- The tragic shooting of Amish school girls and a teachers' aide in Lancaster County will increase pressure on the state Legislature, already debating anti-crime measures, to approve stricter gun control measures, political observers say.
With the state House today poised to debate anti-crime measures in a previously scheduled informal session, handgun control advocates will be emboldened to seek passage of gun control measures. Intense national news coverage of the Lancaster shooting will intensify debate five weeks before the general election.
It was unclear whether the shootings would result in a last-minute postponement of the House session.
But the House appears unwilling to buck a long history of opposing gun control measures. In two days of informal voting last week, sparked by gun violence in Philadelphia, no bill won approval to limit gun purchases or usage. That seems unlikely to change.
"Someone gets up one day and says, 'I'm gonna kill all the girls.' How do you legislate against that?" said Rep. Katie True, a Lancaster County Republican.
Behind the scenes, though, gun control opponents were concerned about emotion carrying the day.
The informal session, called a "Committee of the Whole," doesn't result in passage of bills that go to the Senate. Instead, it takes measure of an issue that later could be brought up as a bill in formal session. Gun control advocates hope to gain momentum from the informal session.
Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, a leader in the push for handgun controls, said, "This tragedy illustrates in the starkest terms that no one is immune from gun violence. It is an epidemic and a crisis across this commonwealth. We must work together to solve this problem."
Rep. Gib Armstrong, a Republican who represents the town of Bart and the crossroads of Nickel Mines and knew the families...
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
If they would only outlaw murder........
On Civil Rights
The Right to Bear Arms
In a nation governed by the people themselves, the possession of arms to defend their nation against usurpers within and without was deemed absolutely necessary. This right was protected by the 2nd Amendment.
"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."
--Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright, 1824.
"One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them."
--Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1796. ME 9:341
"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the Body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind . . . Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."
--Thomas Jefferson, Letter to his nephew Peter Carr, August 19, 1785.
"No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms (within his own lands or tenements)."
--Thomas Jefferson: Draft Virginia Constitution with (his note added), 1776. Papers, 1:353
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
--Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and Punishment (1764).
So, since the cowardly b####ard of a shooter chooses a place where he knows nobody will shoot back at him... That means we need more gun control??
Not this crap again, jeez!
It's all about emotion, which scum such as Dwight Evans (D, of course) want to leverage into gun bans. The scumbag either is too stupid to know that no gun control law in the world would have stopped the shooter, or more likely does know but wants to disarm his subjects just like most other power hungry libscums.
"Gun control" is not an "anti-crime measure", as the surge in gun crime in the UK since the Brits banned all guns should prove. But gun banners are not susceptible to evidence, since preventing crime is not their objective - power is.
But of course! It's only logical to have more gun control. Works in D.C. Better yet, ban all guns nation-wide and get it over with. Why all this piece-meal legislation anyway?
Let's get 'er done and get back to domestic tranquility and crime-free living.
/Eutopia
The Colorado school shooter apparently had sex "toys" in his crime kit--maybe there ought to be dildo control.
In the elections of 1994 the Ds expected to make substantial gains in power and were already broadcasting how quickly they could take the guns. They were laughing, they were gleeful already. They were stuned.
It figures the gun control whores would be out celebrating the deaths of the poor girls. How many champagne bottles were popped in DC last night as the donations flowed in to the Brady Bunch over this latest shooting? The liberals are ghouls
, I swear it.
Criminal violence!! You friggen idiot! It really pi$$es me off to no end when people in a position of authority show their IQ for what it is but are never answerable.
If the girls had been armed, and properly trained, this couldn't have happened.
The results of Gun control would only be good for lawyers, undertakers, and contractors that will be building all the new prisons..
Perfectly said.
You don't.
Contrary to the nearly unanimous opinion of legislators, more legislation is usually not the solution to a problem. In this case, the solution is to defend helpless, innocent children against predatory monsters. Legislation means precisely nothing to a deranged, suicidal murderer. The only possible value of piling on more laws is its analgesic effect for the class of politicians and their constituents who have long since lost touch with the real world.
Our school children don't need more laws to tell them that the guy shooting them in the head is really, really, REALLY bad. Those laws have already been written; they didn't help. The innocent victims of such bloodthirsty demons need someone to protect them. They need someone who can and will kill that monster rather than let him get to them.
Arm teachers and school administrators.
The Montreal shooting illustrates how strict gun control, like that which our liberals propose, will do nothing to stop random acts of violence.
A society must do two (2) things:
1) Punish the guilty and remove from society those that are predators....permanently.
2) Arm and train the citizenry to protect themselves.
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