Philadelphia: A mayoral Nutter thinks he is James Madison

Post below recycled from Ace. See the original for links



To paraphrase a cliche: In order to create a [tyranny] you have to break a few [laws].

Mayor Nutter [above] likened himself and City Council members yesterday to the band of rebels who formed this country as he signed five new gun-control laws that defy the state legislature and legal precedent. "Almost 232 years ago, a group of concerned Americans took matters in their own hands and did what they needed to do by declaring that the time had come for a change," Nutter said as he signed the bills in front of a table of confiscated weapons outside the police evidence room in City Hall. The five laws - called everything from unconstitutional to criminal by critics - do the following:

Limit handgun purchases to one a month.

Require lost or stolen firearms to be reported to police within 24 hours.

Prohibit individuals under protection-from-abuse orders from possessing guns if ordered by the court.

Allow removal of firearms from "persons posing a risk of imminent personal injury" to themselves or others.

Outlaw the possession and sale of certain assault weapons.

You might ask, why did they decide to take so drastic an action?

Phil Goldsmith, president of the gun-control advocacy group CeaseFire PA, said "it's worth trying" to enact and test the laws. "It's a shame the city has to do something like this because the legislature has failed to exercise its responsibilities," Goldsmith said.

Wow, it sounds as if the state legislature really dropped the ball here and hasn't had a vote on this issue.

The city has tried and failed for three decades to buck the 1974 state law that reserves gun regulation to the state legislature. The state's preeminence appeared to be cemented in a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that allowed the legislature to prevent Philadelphia and Pittsburgh from enacting local gun laws.

Hmm... it sounds strangely like the definition for "failed to exercise its responsibilities" is "failed to legislate and/or adjudicate in the manner I demanded." Sorry to take up so much space, actually. This is hardly newsworthy, as it is straight out of the Liberals' playbook -- If you can't win legislatively, go to the courts. If you can't win in the courts, just break that inconvenient law.





Oklahoma Homeowner Shoots Intruder: "A man who broke into a home received quite a shock. The break-in happened just before 12:00 p.m. at 1300 Odom Way in Moore. The two homeowners were at home in bed when they heard someone inside. Police say the man shot the intruder after discovering he had broken in. He then held the man at gunpoint until police arrived. Alex Downing, 38, received non-life threatening injuries. He was arrested for first degree burglary. Police are looking for a possible accomplice. They say a black male with a stocky build drove away in a light green Nissan Maxima.


Ban on youngsters playing with toy guns can backfire, Scottish study finds: " Allowing young boys to play with toy guns and take part in superhero games can be good for their development, new research has found. A zero-tolerance approach to replica guns and other toy weapons is active in a large number of nurseries across Scotland and superhero-style play, where children imitate their favourite film characters, is also unpopular among staff as it can lead to fighting and aggression. But Cath Livingstone, a nursery teacher at Abernethy Primary School in Perth and Kinross, found that the "ban" drove the pretend weapons underground, rather than halt interest in them altogether, and children became deceitful and broke nursery rules in order to play their favourite games. She said that the ban went against Scottish Government guidance on engaging children with activities which respond to their needs and interests."