ps - BTW, I don't believe for a minute that some 6 year old drew this.
Posted on 03/15/2005 4:44:46 PM PST by TorahTrueJew
Philadelphia Mayor's Letter To Pa. Governor On Recent Violence
POSTED: 3:39 pm EST March 15, 2005
March 14, 2005
The Honorable Edward G. Rendell Governor Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 225 Main Capitol Harrisburg, PA 17120
Dear Governor Rendell:
I am respectfully requesting the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss a matter of life and death to the citizens of the commonwealth's largest city, Philadelphia.
It involves the urgent need to address the current law that handcuffs our ability to regulate the sale of guns in Philadelphia.
As this past weekend fully dramatized, we need to act quickly. In a three day period, eight individuals were shot to death: A 24 year old male was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the head; a 20 year old man was found with gunshot wounds to the stomach; an 18 year old male had gunshot wounds to the head as did a 21 year old male. A 35 year old male was shot in the chest ; a 22year old and 21 year old were found with gunshot wounds outside a pool hall; another 35 year old male was found bleeding from the head and a nine year old boy was found dead in a mini-van with a gunshot wound in the chest.
I fully understand that the regulation of guns is fraught with constitutional, political and policy issues, particularly in a geographically large state like Pennsylvania with its rural, suburban and urban diversity.
But as this General Assembly well knows the issues of Philadelphia are often viewed differently. Philadelphia has been subject to special legislation, sometimes favorably, sometime not.
Our ability to regulate guns is one of these special needs. We need tighter controls not only to protect our children and families but also to protect our law enforcement officers who are at risk every day as they attempt to safeguard our citizens.
The human cost of gun violence is devastating to the soul of the city and weakens the fabric of our region. Consider:
Almost 80 percent of our 348 homicides in 2003 were committed with a gun.
In a three-year period from January 2001 to February 2004, there were 4859 gunshot victims killed or injured by gun violence, nearly ten percent involved juveniles.
Almost a year ago we had the tragic murder of Faheem Thomas-Childs outside his school. Unfortunately there have been more juvenile murders since, sometimes youth shooting youth.
We have not sat quietly by as gun violence has afflicted Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Police Department has been relentless in its efforts to fight gun violence. Our commitment of personnel to narcotics enforcement, Operations Safe Streets and Operations Safe Schools is a direct attack on gun violence. We have worked cooperatively with federal authorities and the District Attorney. We have had the active support of our City Council and individual legislators.
We understand that there is more involved in curtailing violence than simply decreasing the number of guns. We have aggressively pursued faith-based initiatives and social service intervention.
But we cannot escape the fact that there are too many guns in Philadelphia and they are a significant contributing cause to our homicide rate.
There are approximately 28,000 active Carry Permits in the City of Philadelphia -- compare that to the five boroughs of New York City where there are 16,000 permits. We were compelled to issue more gun permits in Philadelphia in one year --2003 -- than there are permits in the entire state of New Jersey.
Without your support to consider a rational, reasonable and balanced solution, we are stymied to protect our citizens.
I look forward to hearing from you and working with you on crafting a way to find an acceptable solution to regulate the sale of guns in our city. I along with all law enforcement in our city will come to Harrisburg if you like!
As this past weekend dramatized we cannot afford to do nothing but under our current legal restraints we can not do all we should be doing.
We need your help.
With kind regards, I am
John F. Street, Esquire Mayor
Thanks, just read it. Not a bad idea but who is going to turn in their guns? The drug lords? The gangs? Yea right. I'm even thinking about buying one myself, and I'm scared to death of them..LOL
ps - BTW, I don't believe for a minute that some 6 year old drew this.
Wha's da matta, Mayor Street, can't da bruda's & sista's run da city like you said dey could?
"It's the guns...it's the guns I tell ya. They be firin' theyselves off all ovah tha place.
Yours truly,
Kool Johnny Street"
Mayor Street needs to connect the dots: of all the known participants in these shootings, what percentage of them had carry permits (not including the police and those who acted in self defense against unknown assailants)? Until Governor Rendell and the people of Pennsylvania get a straight answer to that question, Mayor Street's request must be ignored.
No six-year old did any of the lettering on that poster, except possibly the "NRA" part. Presumably, the sneak deliberately misspelled "carjacker" in order to help perpetrate the fraud.
So some adult scumbag won first prize in a kid's contest.
Wow. Congratulations to the scumbag.
By the way, looking at the poster again, that car was most certainly not drawn by a six-year old (kids NEVER get the tires that proportionally accurate) and I doubt even the stick figures were drawn by a kid.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
It looks like it was made as a joke.
The foundation of the mayor's concern is that law-abiding citizens carrying legally-owned handguns are a danger to any registered Democrats who might try to mug or carjack them
Look at it from the Democrat mayor's perspective: the people moving out are disproportionately middle-class Republicans. The school system is geared to turn out people who will be unable to hold a job, and thus can be counted on to become Democrat activists
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
In Philadelphia, how many -- IF ANY -- shootings and murders by shooting were committed by people with carry permits? And how many of the recent murders were by people who acquired their guns lawfully?
Just wait - it's coming. Aaron Brown on CNN just implied a few minutes ago that the entire Nichols fiasco in Atlanta could have been avoided if it wasn't for eeeevil firearms. They then went to some ridiculous story about "smart guns."
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Who are also taxpayers ... if they all leave, who do you think is gonna pick up the tab in Philly
That's right folks .. The rest of PA
And with Fast Eddie in charge .. be prepared for more tax hikes ... cause there isn't a tax Fast Eddie didn't like
And how many those murders were committed by permit holders? I'll wager that number is far far fewer than the number of permit holders would indicate if permit holder's committed murders at the rate of non permit holders. That has been the experience in every jurisdiction that issues permits.
Criminals don't "need no stinking permits", and in reality neither should the law abiding. It's just that the law abiding will jump through the permit process hoops, criminals can't and won't bother to try.
His point is that the criminals can buy those guns in 30 minutes as well, in fact, if they don't steal 'em themselves, that's the way they get them, from some scumbag's trunk.
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