Op-Ed from Sen. Connie Williams on Assault Weapons:

LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT
By Sen. Connie Williams

In the Fall of 2004, just prior to the expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons, I introduced legislation in Pennsylvania to ban the sale of these types of weapons in the Commonwealth. Senate Bill 1216 of 2004 died for lack of action, which led to Senate Bill 533 in the 2005-06 Legislative Session (which also died in Committee) and Senate Bill 48 in the 2007-08 Legislative Session (which I'm realistic enough to recognize will never see the light of day).

To date, I've been told that there is no need to ban any type of gun – the gun does not kill, the person using the gun kills; I've been told that this is just a Philadelphia problem; I've been told that banning any gun is an infringement upon people's constitutional right to bear arms. I hear a lot about enforcing the laws that already are on the books, but I also think that we should reinstate some of the laws that used to be on the books; laws that worked.

Not one of the people opposed to passing any type of new gun laws in Pennsylvania have yet to tell me how we can use this Constitutional right to bear arms to protect the innocent victims of these crimes. Paying for more jail time is a bandage that we place on the wound after it is inflicted.

If this is just a Philadelphia problem, then why was the federal ban put in place in 1994? Was that just for Philadelphia?

The federal ban became law in 1994, following a string of mass killings committed by criminals with assault weapons. The law may not have been perfect, but it served as a deterrent. Statistics show that when the federal ban went into effect in 1994, violent crimes declined by 26.5 percent (from 1994 to 2001).

As I said, I am a realist and I understand that Pennsylvania is firmly on the side of gun rights, which explains why efforts in the House of Representatives earlier this year failed. So, I issue a challenge to gun advocates: come up with some responsible ways to keep guns out of the hands of our children and criminals.

In the end, I don't want to hear rhetoric, I want some hard statistics that show less innocent victims and police officers were killed in Pennsylvania. I want to know your plan to keep guns safely and responsibly locked up so they don't fall into the wrong hands. And I'd like you to promise families of police officers everywhere, that your new way of doing things will protect their loved one when he or she is working in the line of duty to protect you.


 
Rendell speech annoys legislators
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1210038904189400.xml&coll=1

Governor uses tribute to slain officers to promote gun-control legislation
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
BY CHARLES THOMPSON
Of The Patriot-News
At a ceremony honoring Pennsylvania police officers slain in the line of duty last year, Gov. Ed Rendell seized the bully pulpit to make a renewed call for gun-control measures.

But afterward, Rendell's message left some lawmakers feeling just plain bullied.

With several gun-control opponents in the Legislature looking on, the governor declared it almost hypocritical for elected officials to attend the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Day service when they haven't, in his mind, done everything possible to protect police officers.

Rendell said that every year elected officials in Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg attend these ceremonies, "and then we go back in this building ... and we do an inadequate job of passing laws that can truly protect the men and women who so gallantly serve."

To really honor the fallen, Rendell said, "we will suck it in, do the right thing, and pass laws that will give our police officers -- who are out in the street protecting us every day -- the maximum amount of protection we can."

Read more:  

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1210038904189400.xml&coll=1