Thanks David Hardy for this one …

Rendell to personally push gun bills before Pa. House panel

Oh, goody, goody gumdrops, I haven’t fisked something in at least the past 24 hours. Buckle up, it’s going to get bumpy!

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Gov. Ed Rendell, hoping to inject fresh drama into the stalled debate over gun control in Pennsylvania, plans to personally address a House committee considering several bills he says are crucial to reducing gun violence.

Oh, EXCELLENT! Philly is going to be so much better once they continue to restrict law-abiding firearm owners. Nothing says, “reduction in violence” like making someone wait a month to legally buy a pistol!

An appearance by a sitting governor before a committee is so rare that some of the longest serving legislators and staff members could not remember another such time.

Probably because it hasn’t been necessary until Rendell first f***ed up Philly with his policies, THEN handed it to Mayor Street to f*** it up, who then turned it over to Mr. Nutter to f*** up. There’s a Democratic gang-bang if I’ve ever seen one. Unfortunately it’s the citizens of the city that birthed this Country’s liberty, freedom, and principles that are bent over and forced steady squirts of collectivist intrusion in what amounts to an ass-pounding so harsh that having a piping-hot motor oil enema aggressively administered with nothing less than a stiff, rusty wire brush would seem like a day at the spa.

At Rendell’s request, Rep. Thomas Caltagirone, D-Berks, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, will bring up three bills for a vote Tuesday after members listen to the governor.

Can ordinary citizens speak up as well? Or is Rendell only willing to play by his own rules? You know what … nevermind that question.

Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor, makes the appearance on the heels of a spate of shootings of police officers in his hometown, one of them fatal. Officer Chuck Cassidy was shot in the head when he walked in on a doughnut shop robbery Oct. 31 and died the next day. A suspect was arrested days later.

Oh for crying out loud here we go again.

Here are the bills (via Sebastian and thanks Say Uncle):

* HB 18, which basically destroys our state’s preemption law

* HB 22, which limits gun purchases to one gun per month
* HB 29, which requires the reporting of a lost or stolen firearm to police under severe legal penalties. This bill has the potential to trap unaware gun owners who are victimized by crimes.

Rendell and other mayors from around the state maintain that the bills are critical to stemming a rise in gun-related crimes.

This is where journalists (okay, it’s the AP, our standards can’t be set TOO high) are complicit in allowing readers to be consistently lied to.

The impression is given here that Officer Chuck Cassidy’s killing could have been PREVENTED had these measures gone through. Nothing could be further from the truth.

John Lewis (ID’d by Police, mind you, and IN CUSTODY AND LET GO by Police in connection with the murder he committed - misled because he didn’t have a spider tattoo that ended up being incorrect information), was a convicted drug dealer and high-school drop-out who stole his Mom’s 9mm (UPDATE: See Sebastian’s comments below) standard issue pistol (she is a corrections officer on the Philly prison system) and committed this murder apparently before she got home and found the gun missing.

Tell me again, Gov. Rendell - and the AP - how in the hell could “reporting a stolen firearm” have helped prevent this? How would making him wait a month to buy a pistol made a difference?

He’s a convicted dealer. He was in police custody AFTER the murder and let go. Gun control has nothing to do with it. This case was a failure on so many levels. A failure of public school. A failure of the Police. A failure of his own Mother. Most of all, it’s a failure on behalf of the State Government for using a tragic event to push an agenda that would not have made a difference.

However, the governor faces a steep challenge with the bun bills. The Legislature has opposed tougher state gun-control laws, and the National Rifle Association opposes the bills.

That’s because they won’t work. They don’t work anywhere. Bills like these restrict law-abiding citizens. Criminals aren’t restricted because they don’t care about the laws. If they did, John Lewis wouldn’t have murdered the cop because, you know … murdering cops is (I think) illegal. Maybe. So is stealing guns from your Mom. And holding up a Dunkin’ Donuts. Oh, and don’t forget stealing aforementioned perished cop’s sidearm after you shoot him in the head. And fleeing to another state in order to evade the police after committing a felony - well … multiple felonies.

Damn it! Not enough laws to prevent that sort of behavior! Yeah, and maybe I’m a Chinese jet pilot.

And it’s interesting that the AP makes a teeeny little typo here, calling them “bun bills”. That’s about right though, because all of this stinks like a fetid posterior.

John Hohenwarter, an NRA lobbyist, said curbing gun violence will require tougher enforcement of existing gun laws and expanding outreach to troubled youth.

Dude, don’t even bother. These are democrats and this is a problem that exists on so many levels, not least of which is a race-based issue, which means that if you’re bringing it up - you risk being labeled a smug racist.

Similar versions of all three bills met defeat in the House last fall. One of those bills, which would require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms and create a state police database to track the missing weapons, was rejected by the committee on June 27. The measure was struck down by a 17-11 vote, with the help of five of Rendell’s fellow Democrats.

Just wait until he gets in front of the crowd and starts barking from his moral high jackass horse.

Another bill would outlaw the purchase of more than one handgun every 30 days in Pennsylvania.

Which is about as stupid and senseless a waste of time those taxpayers may ever pay for. Criminals don’t buy guns at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The third bill would let Philadelphia write its own firearm laws, and would allow any other county or municipality to do the same, if local voters approve. Currently, only the state Legislature can write such laws.

So it would essentially give Philly the power to completely and totally crush itself and rocket to the top of the violent crime charts! That’s Philly! Coming in at #21 … with a bullet.