+1 for Pennelsivania........

[hammAR]

http://www.centredaily.com/news/local/story/268981.html

Rendell firearms plea fails to sway
Martha Raffaele

HARRISBURG — Gov. Ed Rendell’s emotional appeal urging state lawmakers to pass tougher gun control measures this week was one for the history books, as far as many Capitol observers are concerned.

But it’s unclear whether Rendell made any progress toward overcoming long-entrenched opposition to legislation perceived as antigun in a state in which hunters and National Rifle Association members hold sway over rural lawmakers.

The governor was unsuccessful in persuading the House Judiciary Committee to endorse two key proposals he supports: limiting handgun purchases to one per month and allowing local governments to enact their own gun control ordinances.

Although the outcome surprised no one, Rendell’s unusual appearance before a legislative committee gave him an opportunity to make a political statement on gun violence, Muhlenberg College pollster and political science professor Chris Borick said.

“Other than raising the profile of the issue statewide and calling attention to the problem ... I don’t think it does much in terms of changing policy,” Borick said.

House Republicans have accused the governor of ignoring proposals they contend are more effective remedies, such as toughening penalties for existing gun laws. And an NRA lobbyist said the measures would only inconvenience law-abiding gun owners without addressing the problem of crime.
Advertisement

Rendell also called for the passage of gun control bills in his February budget address. His judiciary committee appearance Tuesday came after a spate of shootings of police in Philadelphia — one of them fatal — although he also tried to underscore that other cities are experiencing similar problems.

“This is really the beginning of what can only be described as a long and arduous process,” Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said. “The governor is hopeful that citizens around the commonwealth will weigh in to their local legislators on the issue.”

Philadelphia’s mayor-elect, Michael Nutter, said he will support Rendell’s efforts to seek “reasonable” restrictions on handgun purchases.

“Everyone respects rights of hunters,” Nutter said. “What we’re talking about here is a different kind of hunting that’s going on — people hunting down other people.”

CeaseFirePA, an organization that has also pushed for stricter gun control legislation, hopes Rendell’s advocacy will galvanize broader support for those measures.

“I think the legislature is going to learn quickly that the NRA is not the only game in town,” CeaseFirePA president Philip Goldsmith said. “It’s incumbent on us to have those people that agree with us to become active citizens.”

Determining whether that goal can be accomplished will take time, said Steven Peterson, director of the School of Public Affairs at Penn State’s Harrisburg campus.

“Sometimes, it does make a difference in the conversation to be out front,” Peterson said. “My own sense is that positions (on gun legislation) over time have hardened in state after state across the country. ... If you were trying to reshape the debate, it doesn’t seem to me to be likely to happen.”

Rendell might have a better chance of garnering support by traveling around the state to discuss gun control with NRA members and enlist the help of local law-enforcement agencies in his cause, said Tom Baldino, political science professor at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre.