Posted on 12/06/2008 5:16:12 PM PST by neverdem
HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania gun owners dodged a bullet when lawmakers failed to enact legislation that would have levied a 5-cent tax on each shell and required encoding ammunition with serial numbers and registering those numbers in a statewide database.
Introduced in February, the bill remains in the state House Judiciary Committee and will die at the end of the session on Sunday. But it could be reintroduced in January, and gun advocates expect to fight it again next year.
It's part of a growing effort nationally to target ammunition as one way to stem gun violence.
Similar legislation has been introduced in 18 other states and the District of Columbia, but none of those bills have become law, said Ted Novin, spokesman for the National Sports Shooting Foundation in Newtown, Conn.
"Gun-control advocates have realized that it would be nearly impossible to achieve an outright ban on firearms, whether at the state or federal level," said Novin. "Understanding this, they have recently turned to backdoor attempts at firearm prohibition -- bullet serialization, which is a de facto ban on ammunition, is a perfect example of this legislative strategy."
The "encoded ammunition" bill in Pennsylvania, according to proponents, would help law enforcement apprehend shooting suspects. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. John Myers of Philadelphia, said encoding serial numbers into bullets and casings would be akin to creating "DNA for bullets." The serial numbers would be logged into a database maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police.
That would allow law enforcement to track bullets used in crimes much the way officers now use license plates to find and apprehend suspects, Myers said when he introduced the bill.
"If we begin coding bullets, we take a big step toward identifying those who misuse firearms and we do it without infringing on responsible gun...,"
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
I haven't looked.
WIth serial number tracing, a bad guy could pick up some used brass out of a range dumptser, reload, and put the first blame on someone else. Great.
Every politician in every state should be made to understand that supporting this type of legislation is harmful to their political future.
>WIth serial number tracing, a bad guy could pick up some used brass out of a range dumptser, reload, and put the first blame on someone else. Great.
Even better if you could get the brass after a politician for this measure fired it... or from a police-range!
They should, but they don't care. They do whatever they want to do, and will become even more bold now that the liberal Democrats are in charge.
Yup, "peace and safety" for them, all right. They have armed bodyguards.
Good post, like always.....thanks.
All the "new tone" and bipartisan crap has just emboldened the left. ACORN should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Considering the mood of the country right now, maybe Pennsyslvania law makers dodged a bullet by not enacting anti-2nd amendment legislation.
These types of "solutions" are truly only an admission that there are no solutions to illegal gun use; instead they want to criminalize gun ownership.
>I have a better thought that protects law abiding gun owners from having their rights restricted...
>put criminals in jail when they use a gun in committing a felony. Put parolees back in jail with
>an extra 10 years if they are caught with a gun while on parole.
Nope, what we do is promote every sentence of more than 30 years to the death-sentence and carry it out after giving them one appeal (which would have a time-limit). THEN, we apply capital punishment to voter/election-fraud and prevent the “recount” crap like in Minnesota. Third, we make SURE, that rape and murder are capital offenses.
Lastly, we should bring back corporal punishment. Drug use, instead of being a big old fine, would be a beating. Embezzling and such, the perp would have to repay twice the entire amount... etc.
Bump for later read.....
Isn't having a "living constitution" a wonderful thing?
I bought it cheap and stacked it deep.
Or did you mean “mandatory minimum” sentence?
Nice thought. Now sell it to all the gun owners who vote for these folks.
"Right to Bear Arms
Section 21.
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."
and:
"Reservation of Powers in People
Section 25.
To guard against the transgressions of the high powers which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall forever remain inviolate."
>Or did you mean “mandatory minimum” sentence?
No, I mean it is a “cruel and unusual punishment” to cause someone to spend so many years of their life in a debt to society AND rob them of the ability to live in that society!
{Remember the Shawshank Redemption?}
Better instead to realize that if the person’s crime is enough to rob them of a life, then it is better to give them death.
It is, in addition to being more kind, cheaper than keeping them alive for 30, 40, 50+ years.
Typical taxation without representation... glad it hasn't been implemented.
Government sucks.
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