tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481330.post5112895041756663008..comments2023-10-24T11:05:25.288-04:00Comments on Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates ponder current events: Rights are rights -- always on -- never off. Any shutdown of rights is wrong. Your rights and mine are linked and the same.Mark Rauterkushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17157914569686528007noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481330.post-79708044386152811642007-09-01T09:49:00.000-04:002007-09-01T09:49:00.000-04:00Pennsylvania Instant Check System ShutdownPosted b...Pennsylvania Instant Check System Shutdown<BR/>Posted by: "Mark Crowley" mark.d.crowley@att.net mdc795<BR/>Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:29 am (PST)<BR/>I received the following legislative alert from the<BR/>Allegheny County Sportsmen's League. It details their<BR/>efforts to stop the PA Instant Check System shutdown. As a<BR/>last ditch effort, they and some interested parties are<BR/>going to court over this matter today (8/31/2007 at 10 AM).<BR/><BR/>Mark<BR/><BR/>----------------------------------------------------------<BR/><BR/>----- Original Message -----<BR/>Subject: Pennsylvania Instant Check System Shutdown<BR/><BR/>***Allegheny County Sportsmen's League*** August 31, 2007<BR/><BR/>LEGISLATIVE ALERT<BR/><BR/>Issue: Pennsylvania Instant Check System Shutdown<BR/><BR/>Pennsylvania Instant Check System Shutdown:<BR/>Minor Inconvenience Or Nightmare With Long-Term Consequences?<BR/><BR/>Beginning in early August Pennsylvania firearms dealers began receiving<BR/>letters notifying them that the Pennsylvania State police intended to<BR/>shut down the Pennsylvania instant check system for five days beginning<BR/>on September 2 at 6 p.m. and concluding at 2 p.m. on September 6. An<BR/>uproar swept across the state from angry citizens and firearms dealers<BR/>who felt that not only was this sudden notice unwarranted but also that<BR/>the governor and the Pennsylvania State police were not complying with<BR/>Pennsylvania law in the method with which they were conducting this<BR/>shutdown.<BR/><BR/>**Issues<BR/>There are three components to this situation. The first of which is<BR/>Constitutional: in its basic form a right delayed is a right denied.<BR/>The second is one of basic criminal law: the Pennsylvania uniform<BR/>firearms act which is contained within the Pennsylvania crimes codes,<BR/>title 18, specifies the procedure with which firearms sales are to be<BR/>handled when and if the computerized system becomes unavailable. The<BR/>Pennsylvania State police are not complying with the law and are<BR/>informing dealers that there is no way to sell firearms legally unless<BR/>they go through the state run instant check system. This is completely<BR/>false and an abrogation of their responsibility to comply with the law!<BR/>The third component is one of economic terrorism in as much as they are<BR/>using their power over the sale of a lawful product to financially harm<BR/>small business owners throughout the state. Every gun owner should<BR/>know that why you have a right to bear arms you do not have a right to<BR/>buy under the current structure. Pennsylvania has lost over 9000 gun<BR/>dealers since 1994 and the trend is one of a downward spiral. In fact<BR/>in Philadelphia County there are only 19 gun dealers currently in<BR/>business.<BR/><BR/>Despite the unwillingness of the media to address the issues listed<BR/>above we are continuing to pressure the legislature and the governor in<BR/>every way possible to reconsider this approach to the sale of firearms.<BR/><BR/>**Shutdown Validates Gun Owner Concerns That State Run System Could Be<BR/>Used To Suspend/End Constitutional Freedoms<BR/>Beginning in 1995 through the introduction of the instant check system<BR/>in 1998 Pennsylvania grassroots gun owners and their organizations<BR/>continued to stress the concerns that we all shared regarding the<BR/>potential arbitrariness of a state run firearms instant check system.<BR/>Considering the past history of political intrigue and manipulation and<BR/>the unwillingness of the Pennsylvania State police administration to<BR/>abide by the law as commonly written in the uniform firearms act, we<BR/>believe that if there was to be an instant check system it should be<BR/>one centralized system that was uniform in its approach to all.<BR/><BR/>It was clear to us that despite all the rhetoric coming from the<BR/>governor's office regarding their position on the Pennsylvania instant<BR/>check system shutdown, the governor had his own agenda. The ad hoc<BR/>committee that convened on August 27 represented, in our view, a way to<BR/>deflect criticism until there would be no opportunity to respond. This<BR/>committee was comprised of administration officials, representatives of<BR/>the Pennsylvania State police, legislators, and sportsmen and gun<BR/>dealer representatives. Alternative dates for the needed upgrades and<BR/>system maintenance were provided to administration officials and<BR/>initially appeared that all parties agreed to a compromise approach.<BR/>However, a recent [erroneous] quote by the Rendell Administration<BR/>stated "In the end, the governor and the committee decided the options,<BR/>which included no shutdown at all or shutting down in October or early<BR/>January, would either be too costly or conflict with other scheduled<BR/>computer system upgrades." The committee did no such thing! That was<BR/>the Governor's conclusion, not the committee's conclusion. Again a<BR/>deviation from the truth!<BR/><BR/>**Actions<BR/>The Allegheny County sportsmen's league legislative committee Chairman<BR/>Kim Stolfer consulted with the Allegheny County sportsmen's league<BR/>counsel, Rob Keenan, and league president Mike Maranche with regard to possible legal options should citizen outrage and legislative pressure fail. A course of action was agreed upon and contact was made with<BR/>George Romanoff who is president of the Pennsylvania licensed firearms<BR/>dealers Association in regard to their willingness to join with the<BR/>Allegheny County sportsmen's league in attempting to seek an injunction<BR/>that would prohibit the Pennsylvania instant check shutdown until the<BR/>procedures complied with Pennsylvania law. A joint action was prepared<BR/>and ready for use as a last-ditch effort to achieve satisfaction from<BR/>the governor and the Pennsylvania State police through the judicial<BR/>system.<BR/><BR/>Since the negotiations with the governor's office achieved nothing, as<BR/>expected, our request for an injunction was filed on Tuesday, August<BR/>28. The hearing has been granted and will be held on August 31 at 10<BR/>a.m. in Commonwealth court in Harrisburg. We have numerous experts<BR/>lined up to testify including the former head of the national instant<BR/>check system and some of the best computer experts from the Pittsburgh<BR/>area.<BR/><BR/>**Conclusion<BR/>Perhaps it is time for every gun owner to finally consider that, like<BR/>other states have done, it is time to terminate the Pennsylvania State<BR/>instant check system and merge these duties with a national system.<BR/>Our freedoms should not be held hostage!<BR/><BR/>Respectfully,<BR/><BR/>Kim Stolfer<BR/>Legislative Committee, Chairman<BR/>Allegheny County Sportsmen's League, Inc.<BR/>www.acslpa.org<BR/>Legislative Committee, Vice-Chairman<BR/>Pennsylvania Sportsmen's AssociationAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481330.post-34366034080685390542007-08-28T08:21:00.000-04:002007-08-28T08:21:00.000-04:00Sunday's Tribune Review's whispers:compiled by the...Sunday's Tribune Review's whispers:<BR/><BR/>compiled by the Tribune-Review staff<BR/>Sunday, August 26, 2007<BR/><BR/>A liberal conspiracy to subvert the Second Amendment in Pennsylvania?<BR/><BR/>That was the allegation leveled last week after the revelation that the state police plan to halt gun sales across Pennsylvania for four days next month. The reason: to upgrade the computer system that performs background checks on prospective purchasers.<BR/><BR/>State Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati, a Jefferson County Republican, asserted the temporary ban was little more than an attempt at gun control.<BR/><BR/>"I am concerned that this is just another attempt by liberals from Philadelphia to limit the rights of gun owners and those who wish to become a gun owner," Scarnati said in a prepared statement.<BR/><BR/>story continues below<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>The state's most powerful liberal from Philadelphia, Gov. Ed Rendell, immediately shifted into damage control mode. He formed a committee to review whether a better date exists to shut down the computer system.<BR/><BR/>Jumping to Rendell's defense, Democrat House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese of Greene County had a typically verbose response to Scarnati's charge.<BR/><BR/>"I would be stupefied if there was a sinister cabal within the Rendell administration to engender mischief," he told The Philadelphia Inquirer. DeWeese added that he believed Scarnati was "just enjoying what he considers a delicious opportunity to foment the 'L' word."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com