Snowflakes in Hell

Things are kind of slow right now, so I thought I’d drag an old bit of Pennsylvania case law out in Oritz vs. Commonwealth. The money quote:

Because the ownership of firearms is constitutionally protected, its regulation is a matter of statewide concern. The constitution does not provide that the right to bear arms shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth, except Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where it may be abridged at will, but that it shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth. Thus, regulation of firearms is a matter of concern in all of Pennsylvania, not merely in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the General Assembly, not city councils, is the proper forum for the imposition of such regulation.

For the foregoing reasons, the order of Commonwealth Court is affirmed.

And with that, the courts threw Philadelphia and Pittsburgh’s assault weapons bans off the books, and upheld statewide preemption.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, it’s high noon in the battle over gun control.

(midday Friday)The effort comes at a time when the number of slayings in Philadelphia is edging painfully upward - 105 at last count, the majority of them at the point of a gun. At least 15 bills are back in the pipeline; Gov. Rendell has turned up the volume on his pleas for stronger gun-control measures, and Democrats now control the state House. All this comes at a time when a new poll suggests a majority of Pennsylvanians are willing to accept handgun-sale limits.

Because we can see how well one-gun-per-month in Virginia, and strict handgun regulations in Maryland reduced violence in Washington DC.

Rep. Dan Surra (D., Elk) said that while he sympathized with residents living in high-crime areas, he could not support any gun-restriction bill because in certain quarters of his district, a hunting stronghold in the north-central part of the state, guns are a single-issue item at the polls.

“They will vote you out on this,” Surra said.

Why yes, we will.

“The feeling out here is that proposals that deal with firearms in general are inched toward the precipice, and once you start eroding Second Amendment rights, it’s a cascading effect,” Surra, the legislator from northwestern Pennsylvania said.

“Guns are part of our culture, too. The difference is we don’t shoot each other,” said Surra, who recalls teaching students to build guns in shop class.

Man.  I wish he taught my shop class.  All I got to make was a damned stool.

And although Evans is determined to get the one-handgun-a-month bill to the floor this year, Caltagirone, the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee, does not think he can deliver it. “I don’t have the votes at this point in time,” Caltagirone said, adding that he hopes to work on a compromise that could pass.

Compromise?  I don’t see where there’s room to compromise on “shall not be questioned” you loser.

Pennsylvania “is a priority state for us,” said Peter Hamm, communications director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence, which teamed with other gun-control groups to form the coalition Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns in 2005. “We believe there is enough political ability in the legislature to enact change.”

Let them have one-gun-a-month, they won’t go home happy.  It’s important to fight this.  There are already laws on the books for tracking multiple handgun sales both at the state and federal level.   The only reason they want this is to open the door to further restrictions on guns in the commonwealth.

Apparently the Keystone State has the 24th highest tax burden at 10.8 percent of income on average.  The highest?  Vermont, with a tax burden of 14.1 percent.  I guess there are some advantages to not having a graduated income tax.  Apparently New York, Maine, Ohio and Rhode Island are pretty tax crazy too.

Sam Katz, who has run for mayor on the Republican ticket back as far as I can remember, has a blog, apparently.  He’s offering advise to the current Mayoral candidates.  At least the Philadelphia media is calling it a blog.   This looks more like a column to me.  I think the media is a bit challenged on what a blog is.

Got in late last night, so didn’t get anything going up for today.  At work today I have a vendor in to upgrade a software product, and will be busy babysitting that process in addition to other things.  Will be more busy with blogging once I get home.