For residents of south central/eastern PA. Our York county Friends of the NRA Banquet will be coming up in just a couple of months.
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Thursday, May 06, 2010 5:30 PM – York, PA
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Location:
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Holiday Inn/Conference Center
2000 Loucks RD York, PA 17408 |
City Council passed the resolution in a 4-to-1 vote.
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13345323
I’d call it a draw. We were able to prevent the passage of the ordinance, but we did not fully stop the momentum of the movement. I also blundered, which I will share in a later post.
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September 8th, Special Comittee Meeting @7pm to discuss the proposed Lost/Stolen ordinance. Said ordinance would require residents of York city to report their firearms lost or stolen within 3 days or face penalties.
As has been discussed in the past, this proposed ordinance has several issues:
1. Violates the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s pre-emption laws. (ie: illegal)
2. Essentially creates a situation in which one is guilty until proven innocent.
3. Essentially redundant to present state level laws and penalties for straw purchasers. The only difference is that this proposed ordinance has the potential to automatically punish innocent gun owners.
My understanding from talking to Councilman Joe Musso is that Councilwoman Toni Smith may just push for a “resolution” rather than the passing of the ordinance. As has been stated before by the proponents of this ordinance, the real purpose is to send a message to Harrisburg. Which is why I believe it affects everyone in York county and not just the residents of York city proper.
Depending on this meeting, anything that comes out of it, will likely be moved to the following meeting for a decision on September 15th, next @7pm.
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Councilman Joseph Musso has been very helpful to the gun owning community in regards to this proposed ordinance. Helping to keep us informed and providing a strong advocacy that this is an improper action for the city to take.
I was actually pleased to hear that Mr. Musso was going to run for mayor as an independent. Today I found out that his petition to be on the ballot was invalidated. This is a disgusting tactic used by the big parties, and especially the Democrats. In which they get an official to invalidate enough signatures to make the petition no longer eligible to be on the ballot. The cause for removal are often very questionable; including removal for not utilizing cursive script. One example Mr. Musso gave was a signature they invalidated because it did not match the signature on the signer’s voter registration card. Mind you, the signature was of an 87 yr old man. And the voter registration card was from the 1940’s.
I really hate this crap, it’s the same methods Barack Obama used to get elected. And it’s a common crap method that the big two have used to squash 3rd party and independent candidates. Truly unamerican.
From what I gather, Mr. Musso is not planning to fight it. In part I understand. We have lives to live. And it’s tough expending so much of your life for a longshot. And the ‘system’ knows that, using that fact to make it hard for anyone outside the system to compete. It undermines the democratic system. The result, is good people don’t, won’t or can’t run.
The real result is America loses out.
“A judge said Pittsburgh has 10 days to respond to a National Rifle Association lawsuit challenging the legality of a city law requiring gun owners to report their lost or stolen guns.”
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/19526396/detail.html
“The NRA’s lawsuit against the city claims that the ordinance violates the state’s Uniform Firearms Act of 1939, which says “no county, municipality or township may, in any manner, regulate the lawful ownership, possession or transportation of firearms … when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this commonwealth.””
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Why this is extremely relevant? Because we’re fighting the same battle here in York, Pennsylvania. And the anti-gun advocates who never have their facts straight argued that Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have passed similar laws and haven’t been sued by the NRA. (We corrected them on that fact.) Granted, they were correct in that the Brady Campaign has offered free legal assistance.
I will be sending this article to our city council….
Several months ago there was a Lost/Stolen bill before the York City Council that would have made gun owners guilty until proven innocent. We were not quite successful in defeating the bill, as the mayor had gotten one or more council members to promise to table the bill instead.
We expressed our concern that the issue would be brought up in the dark of the night (or the heat of the summer) with little notice. We were promised this would not happen. Today I received an email from the President of York City Council, Joseph Musso, to that effect. He believes that the bill will be brought back up for action at tomorrow’s meeting Wednesday, May 20th, as he has been receiving numerous calls in a concerted effort by gun control and community activists, both local and out-of-state. Utilizing the recent
First off, I would like to thank President Joseph Musso, both for his handling when the bill was first brought up. And for his alerting us to the probability that it will be resurrected at this week’s council meeting. His email to me is included below.
It is my intention to be there tomorrow, and my hope you can join me. If the bill does come up, it is integral that we voice our opposition and see it defeated. If it does not come up, then we will utilize the meeting as a pre-emptive strike to see that it remains tabled or is voted down.
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I am writing to advise you that it appears that Councilwoman Toni Smith intends to request that Bill 58, also known as the lost or stolen gun law, be removed from the table for action at the upcoming City Council meeting tomorrow night, Wednesday, May 20th. I am getting calls from gun control advocates and have been advised that community activists have been requested to attend the meeting in support of Councilwoman Smith. The move is obviously designed to take advantage of the recent death of an innocent 5 year old on Mothers Day.
I write to you because you may have the ability to advise those opposed to this legislation of the situation.
Joseph R. Musso, President
York City Council
Saturday began with a trip to the York Gun Show at the York Fairgrounds with a friend of mine. “Guns…lots of guns!” and might I add “Crowds, lots of crowds!”
There was much difficulty navigating the aisles. If Liberty is a well-armed sheep. The York Gun Show was clearly the sheep pen. Prices were definitely up on a lot of things.
Mosin-Nagants $99-$175 for nothing specials.
SKS were priced $350 and up…and I mean up to nearly $600.
AK Semi-automatics were going for what you’d expect to pay for an AR.
AR15, as for them gone were the $700+ units. $1,100 seemed to be the standard AR price and $1,500+ was NOT uncommon.
My friend and I got separated for a while. I eyed a 1925 Mosin-Nagant with some very interesting markings. Which I did not see any examples of on 7.62x54r.net. In the end I passed, I’m kind of on a gun restricted budget for the next 6 months (*sighs*). I have a good wife though…and she’s very tolerant and supportive on this issue.
I did wind up buying a sardine tin of 7.62x54r surplus ammo. $100 for 440 rounds and a few P-58 can openers. (Figured good idea to tape one to each sardine tin I buy.) Also bought a box of a 100 7.62x54r “blanks”. They were $3 and I figured WHY THE HECK NOT! (I figure when the little one is old enough to shoot a larger rifle. A blank might be a good thing to start off with. Especially since they were so cheap.) That was about all I bought…
So I met up with my friend at the door. And lo and behold he had bought something. And it clearly did NOT look like it was within his $200 budget. Not unless Springfield Armory has significantly lowered their price on the XDM model. He had been eyeing sub-compacts for carry (which the XDM is not) but saw the XDM for $550 and went for it. Can’t blame him, looks like a really nice gun and I’ve heard only good things about it.
As a little test we pulled a prank on my wife. When I got home I pretended it was my purchase. My wife was clearly not thrilled but neither was she enraged. She later told me she was waiting for my friend to leave before she yelled at me. *LOL* (She wouldn’t have been upset about purchasing such a firearm, but for the fact that I am not supposed to buy any more for 6 months.) We want to save for a house…
UPDATE: The council chose to table the proposed legislation 3-to-2. However, the council did express that were it to go to a vote it would have lost 1-to-4. I believe it was tabled due to pressure from the Mayor.
http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/top/ci_11521606
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11522039
“Several residents opposed to the legislation spoke at the meeting, with two holding signs saying “America believes in innocence until proven guilty,” and “Citizens are expected to obey the law. So should the council.””
Just nice to know the signs I made garnered some attention from the media for our cause. 🙂
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When: 6:30PM
Wednesday, January 21
Where: City Council Chambers
1 Marketway West, 3rd Floor, York, PA
(Corner of Market & George)
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To vote on the proposed ordinance which would require a citizen to report a firearm as lost or stolen within 72 hours of discovery or face a $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail.
The ordinance would essentially change the burden of proof from “Innocent until provent guilty!” to “Guilty unless you can prove your innocent.”
I and several others attended the committee meeting last week and voiced our opinions. The council seemed evenly divided on the matter with a few appearing to be unsure of where they stood.
Here is contact info for the committee members. You can contact the council and express your views. But please be polite, understanding that while some of the council members may be misguided they do have the best of intentions. (Just the road they’re paving is headed straight to hell.)
Councilman Joseph R. Musso, President
jrmusso@comcast.net
Councilwoman Carol Hill-Evans, Vice President
cdh129@comcast.net
Councilwoman Toni Smith
tonismith825@hotmail.com
Councilman Cameron Texter
ctexter@yahoo.com
Councilwoman Genevieve Ray
genray@comcast.net
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Below are some of the media reports regarding last week’s committee meeting:
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11447158
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/York-Council-Listens-to-Gun-Ordinance-Debate/RMj3NlQcgUCq3E3IYR9TWQ.cspx
York City in violation of Pennsylvania Commonwealth law is intending to past legislation mandating the reporting of lost or stolen firearms. Granting a 72 hour period to report the incident or suffer a $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail.
While this may seem like positive legislation to some, it is in fact an erosion of our rights. And potentially makes good citizens to be the criminals. While doing very little to reduce crime on our streets. And while 72 hours may seem like adequate time in the eyes of the proponents of this legislation. Consider the situation in which a family’s home has been broken into, maybe even family members brutally assaulted. The last thing those family members are going to want to be concerned with is filing a firearm theft report or becoming a criminal for failing to do so.
There is a council meeting scheduled for tomorrow which I am planning to attend. Please consider attending and voicing your concern to the City Council:
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: City council chambers, 1 Marketway West, York
(I have not been to the City Council chambers, but I believe 1 Marketway West is at the NW corner of Market & George St.
The following NRA-ILA Alert I received today regarding the City of York:
York City Council to Consider “Lost or Stolen” Ordinance Tomorrow!
Please Stand-Up and Make Your Voice Heard!
On Tuesday, January 13, the York City Council’s Police Committee is having a public hearing on an anti-gun ordinance that would require gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within a 72-hour period or face fines and possible imprisonment.
This proposed ordinance would violate Pennsylvania’s state preemption statutes which dictate that only the state can enact further firearms regulations. It would victimize law-abiding gun owners a second time by penalizing those who unknowingly fail to report the theft or loss of a firearm within the required 72-hour period. To view the ordinance, please click here.
The York City Council Police Committee will begin their meeting at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow in the City Council Chambers on the 3rd Floor of the City County Building located at 1 Marketway West in York.
Please attend tomorrow’s hearing and proudly show your support for the Second Amendment and your opposition to this illegal and unwarranted attack on our rights. If you are unable to attend, please contact the members of the City Council TODAY and respectfully urge them to stand up for our Second Amendment rights and oppose this measure.
The proposed legislation can be read here!
Contact information can be found below:
Councilman Joseph R. Musso, President
Councilwoman Carol Hill-Evans, Vice President
Councilwoman Toni Smith
Councilman Cameron Texter
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