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Guest Column: Don't be duped by gun control fanatics
I am writing this rebuttal to the letter in your April 11 edition submitted by James Higgins, "Shields Blasted Over Gun Views."
Mr. Higgins is entitled to his opinion, as is C. Scott Shields and the rest of us. I could not help but notice that Mr. Higgins is a board member of CeaseFire PA. This is interesting as Handgun Control, Inc. evolved into the Brady Center To Prevent Handgun Violence and now is called CeaseFire Inc.
Mr. Higgins attributes our "patchwork-quilt of weak gun laws" as the reason we have a high crime. I hold a federal firearms license and have held this license for over 21 years.
Before I can sell any firearm I must complete ATF Form 4473. Part of this I fill out and part the buyer fills out. The buyer must have a valid state-issued photo identification with a current address on it.
I then telephone the Pennsylvania State Police to do a PICS (Pennsylvania Instant Check System) check on the applicant.
The firearm cannot be transferred to the applicant unless the Pennsylvania State Police give an approval.
In addition, if the purchase is a handgun, then a Pennsylvania Application/Record of Sale in triplicate must be completed. Any false information provided by the buyer on either the Federal Form 4473 or the Pennsylvania Application/Record of Sale is a felony. The sale of firearms by a dealer is extremely regulated and severe penalties are provided if the dealer does not do what he is required to do and/or the buyer falsifies information to the dealer on the required official forms.
Mr. Higgins states that in Pennsylvania a person can purchase an unlimited number of guns upon showing any means of identification (this is an absolute mistruth as shown above).
The buyer has a criminal record, no problem, get a girlfriend or another adult who has no record to be his straw purchaser. A straw purchase is a very serious crime and we dealers are required to inform ATF if we suspect a straw purchase was attempted.
Mr. Higgins states local sheriffs must issue, with no discretion to deny, concealed weapons permits to unstable individuals, terrorists, and drug addicts unless they have a criminal record.
Pennsylvania is a "shall-issue state" in regards to concealed-carry permits, but to say the issuing agency has no discretion and must issue to the offending person is simply not true.
Even ATF cannot define what an "assault gun" is as so many of the firearms referred to by unknowing or reckless individuals as "assault guns" are essentially the same as recognized "legal" or "good guns." Yet the way in which they mechanically work is identical to what is erroneously referred to by many as "assault guns."
Cosmetics make up the primary difference between "good guns" and "bad guns," sporting guns and "assault guns," nothing else.
Shields Idea No. 3: Don't expect the police to protect you, protect yourself - get a gun and use it. Well, Mr. Shields is correct when he stated the Supreme Court does not provide for the police to protect us as individuals.
Firearms are used in the United States up to 1 million times a year to protect individuals from criminal encounters.
During the time it takes the police to respond to an emergency call for assistance the person who is in need of help may be fighting for his life. The time interval between the police being summoned and their actual arrival may spell the difference between the victim's life or death.
Each and every law-abiding individual should have the right to choose between being able to resist evil and criminal forces until the police arrive. In many instances once the police do arrive they have to call for reinforcements. I know as I've been there many times as a law enforcement officer for 30 years.
Aside from military or police, neither I nor any of my friends have ever shot or killed a human being nor used a firearm in the commission of a crime. Why should we, the law-abiding, be penalized by the wild and fanatical emotions of a representative of CeaseFire, whose entire mission is to disarm the good people?
Perhaps he thinks that criminals will go away if the people are disarmed. No more senseless murders, rapes, arsons, robberies or other crimes if the people become defenseless. The only group that loves anti-gun laws is the criminal group.
Mr. Higgins seemed in rapture while trying to make C. Scott Shields and "gun worshippers" look like the evildoers. I have known Scott Shields for many years and I know him to be an honest and fair man. He has demonstrated to me sound judgment and, as an attorney, I know he fights for the rights of his clients.
I personally know of several cases where he gave of his own time and resources to defend someone who could not afford an attorney with Scott's experience. What has Mr. Higgins really done to make this a safer and better country?
I do not know Mr. Higgins but I know what he represents. I do know Scott Shields and I stand alongside him.
Our Founding Fathers made our right to own firearms the Second Amendment because they knew that in order to survive, the individuals of this country had to be able to defend themselves from not only evil people but also a tyrannical government. The Second Amendment protects the rest of the amendments.
Maybe the people of Delaware County need a C. Scott Shields to sit on the bench instead of a person who blames an inanimate object for the crimes committed by a criminal element which for far too long has had its way with a pandering court system.
Kenneth K. Crane is a resident of the Crum Lynne section of Ridley Township.
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Editorial/Opinion
Guest Column: Don't be duped by gun control fanatics
By KENNETH CRANE, Times Guest Columnist
04/25/2007
I am writing this rebuttal to the letter in your April 11 edition submitted by James Higgins, "Shields Blasted Over Gun Views."
Mr. Higgins is entitled to his opinion, as is C. Scott Shields and the rest of us. I could not help but notice that Mr. Higgins is a board member of CeaseFire PA. This is interesting as Handgun Control, Inc. evolved into the Brady Center To Prevent Handgun Violence and now is called CeaseFire Inc.
Mr. Higgins attributes our "patchwork-quilt of weak gun laws" as the reason we have a high crime. I hold a federal firearms license and have held this license for over 21 years.
Before I can sell any firearm I must complete ATF Form 4473. Part of this I fill out and part the buyer fills out. The buyer must have a valid state-issued photo identification with a current address on it.
I then telephone the Pennsylvania State Police to do a PICS (Pennsylvania Instant Check System) check on the applicant.
The firearm cannot be transferred to the applicant unless the Pennsylvania State Police give an approval.
In addition, if the purchase is a handgun, then a Pennsylvania Application/Record of Sale in triplicate must be completed. Any false information provided by the buyer on either the Federal Form 4473 or the Pennsylvania Application/Record of Sale is a felony. The sale of firearms by a dealer is extremely regulated and severe penalties are provided if the dealer does not do what he is required to do and/or the buyer falsifies information to the dealer on the required official forms.
Mr. Higgins states that in Pennsylvania a person can purchase an unlimited number of guns upon showing any means of identification (this is an absolute mistruth as shown above).
The buyer has a criminal record, no problem, get a girlfriend or another adult who has no record to be his straw purchaser. A straw purchase is a very serious crime and we dealers are required to inform ATF if we suspect a straw purchase was attempted.
Mr. Higgins states local sheriffs must issue, with no discretion to deny, concealed weapons permits to unstable individuals, terrorists, and drug addicts unless they have a criminal record.
Pennsylvania is a "shall-issue state" in regards to concealed-carry permits, but to say the issuing agency has no discretion and must issue to the offending person is simply not true.
Even ATF cannot define what an "assault gun" is as so many of the firearms referred to by unknowing or reckless individuals as "assault guns" are essentially the same as recognized "legal" or "good guns." Yet the way in which they mechanically work is identical to what is erroneously referred to by many as "assault guns."
Cosmetics make up the primary difference between "good guns" and "bad guns," sporting guns and "assault guns," nothing else.
Shields Idea No. 3: Don't expect the police to protect you, protect yourself - get a gun and use it. Well, Mr. Shields is correct when he stated the Supreme Court does not provide for the police to protect us as individuals.
Firearms are used in the United States up to 1 million times a year to protect individuals from criminal encounters.
During the time it takes the police to respond to an emergency call for assistance the person who is in need of help may be fighting for his life. The time interval between the police being summoned and their actual arrival may spell the difference between the victim's life or death.
Each and every law-abiding individual should have the right to choose between being able to resist evil and criminal forces until the police arrive. In many instances once the police do arrive they have to call for reinforcements. I know as I've been there many times as a law enforcement officer for 30 years.
Aside from military or police, neither I nor any of my friends have ever shot or killed a human being nor used a firearm in the commission of a crime. Why should we, the law-abiding, be penalized by the wild and fanatical emotions of a representative of CeaseFire, whose entire mission is to disarm the good people?
Perhaps he thinks that criminals will go away if the people are disarmed. No more senseless murders, rapes, arsons, robberies or other crimes if the people become defenseless. The only group that loves anti-gun laws is the criminal group.
Mr. Higgins seemed in rapture while trying to make C. Scott Shields and "gun worshippers" look like the evildoers. I have known Scott Shields for many years and I know him to be an honest and fair man. He has demonstrated to me sound judgment and, as an attorney, I know he fights for the rights of his clients.
I personally know of several cases where he gave of his own time and resources to defend someone who could not afford an attorney with Scott's experience. What has Mr. Higgins really done to make this a safer and better country?
I do not know Mr. Higgins but I know what he represents. I do know Scott Shields and I stand alongside him.
Our Founding Fathers made our right to own firearms the Second Amendment because they knew that in order to survive, the individuals of this country had to be able to defend themselves from not only evil people but also a tyrannical government. The Second Amendment protects the rest of the amendments.
Maybe the people of Delaware County need a C. Scott Shields to sit on the bench instead of a person who blames an inanimate object for the crimes committed by a criminal element which for far too long has had its way with a pandering court system.
Kenneth K. Crane is a resident of the Crum Lynne section of Ridley Township.
©DelcoTimes 2007
Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy
©2006 Delaware County Times - a Journal Register Property. All Rights reserved.
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