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Pa. bill pushes to end gun permit 'loophole'

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Farmer Troy

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Just saw this online . . . lots of mis-information in this article . . .

"Pa. bill pushes to end gun permit 'loophole' Monday, June 14, 2010 By Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette HARRISBURG -- A Democratic state legislator from southeastern Pennsylvania is trying to close the "Florida gun loophole."
Rep. Bryan Lentz of Delaware County, who is running for a Congressional seat in suburban Philadelphia, wants to make it harder for Pennsylvanians who have been denied a license to carry' firearms in this state to simply get one from another state, in particular, Florida.
Currently, state law generally requires a person to be licensed by the state of Pennsylvania in order to carry a weapon.
But there is this exception allowing firearms for "any person who possesses a valid and lawfully issued license or permit to carry a firearm, which has been issued under the laws of another state, regardless of whether a reciprocity agreement exists between the Commonwealth (of Pennsylania) and the state."
Mr. Lentz is upset, saying this exception allows Pennsylvania residents to legally carry a firearm in Pennsylvania "even when they have been denied, or had revoked, a 'license to carry' by Pennsylvania authorities." He called this situation a "loophole.''
He cited a case where a man was arrested in a rental car at a Pennsylvania airport with a loaded AK-47 in the car.
"The man had a Pa. 'license to carry', which was subsequently revoked," Mr. Lentz said. "While his case was pending, he obtained a Florida 'license to carry' by mail. He was subsequently stopped by Philadelphia police in a car with another loaded firearm. There was no arrest, however -- even though his Pa. 'license to carry' had been revoked -- because he now had a Florida license to carry.''
He has a bill before the House Judiciary Committee to stop Pennsylvania residents from getting their license to carry from another state. The committee may vote on the Lentz bill on Tuesday, depending on how talks with the National Rifle Association go.
"This legislation is needed to ensure that local authorities retain control over the (firearms) permit process and that Pennsylvania residents who are granted a license to carry have met the standards of our state and not those of another state, whose standards may be less than ours," Mr. Lentz said.
In November, he will face Republican Pat Meehan for the Congressional seat now held by U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10165/1065547-100.stm#ixzz0qqNeEF6K
 
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Farmer Troy

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BTW, I sent the writer an e-mail, and he already corrected one part of the news article.

He changed . . .
"Currently, state law generally requires a person to be
licensed by the state of Pennsylvania in order to carry a weapon."

to . . .

"Currently, state law generally requires a person to be licensed by the state of Pennsylvania in order to carry a concealed weapon."
 
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dhg247

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Everyone should call and email the House Judiciary Committee to tell them that you are opposed to HB2536. HB2536 will be voted on tomorrow (Wednesday). Below is an email I sent to each member of the Committee.


To:

Subject: Vote “NO” to HB2536

I am writing to you to voice my concern over legislation (HB2536) that is in your committee. HB2536 is a direct attack on the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment and Pennsylvania’s Constitution’s Article 1; Section 21. HB2536 is an attempt to “fix” a symptom of the real issue which is due to subjective language in the Uniform Firearms Act in the License To Carry Firearms (LTCF) issuance and revocation language in Title 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109 (e) (1) (i).

“(i) An individual whose character and reputation is such that the individual would be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.”

The issuing authorities have been abusing this clause for a long time (if you would like examples please write back to me and I will provide some that I know of). The sad thing is that most citizens do not put up with the hassle and cost to correct the abuse. The sadder thing is that the Commonwealth government has put its citizens into a situation where they can be abused with little recourse for the abuse. To stop this abuse, the above section (the "character clause") should be removed from the statute since the rest of the sections provide a detailed definitive list as to why a license should not be issued or why a license should be revoked. Furthermore, Title 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105 (b) and (c) provides a detailed list of crimes and circumstances that make it illegal for a citizen of Pennsylvania to “possess, use, control, sell, transfer or manufacture or obtain a license to possess, use, control, sell, transfer or manufacture a firearm in this Commonwealth”. With clear definitive guidelines already in the statute, why is there a clause that allows the issuing authorities to arbitrarily restrict law abiding Commonwealth citizens from constitutionally bearing arms?
HB2536 will not fix the issue with subjectivity in the statute; instead, it will remove the constitutional right to bear arms from law abiding citizens who have another state’s LTCF or concealed carry permits due to having been abused by Pennsylvania LTCF issuers, who abuse the subjective language in the Pennsylvania statute. In fact, the only gun owners that HB 2536 could possibly affect would be law abiding, upright citizens who have, whether through ill-begotten intentions or benign mistake, been denied a license due to the "character clause". Anyone actually convicted of a crime under the aforementioned statute would be prevented from legally buying a firearm, acquiring a license to carry it concealed, owning a firearm, and carrying the weapon concealed or otherwise. Vote “NO” to HB2536 so that there will continue to be recourse for citizens who been unconstitutionally restricted from bearing arms.
In closing, I greatly appreciate your service to this Commonwealth and the sacrifice that your Oath of Office brings to you in that you must put aside your personal thoughts and beliefs on issues every time you vote in order to do a constitutional check of the issue.

Sincerely,
Click to expand...
 
virginiatuck

virginiatuck

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Sig229 wrote:
This is so incredibly stupid.

So does that also mean, that PA will stop issuing out of state LTCF if this is passed?
Click to expand...
I don't think that's what it means. Read HB2536. It means that PA residents will be required to have a PA LTCF in order to carry concealed or in a vehicle.
 
D

dhg247

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virginiatuck wrote:
Sig229 wrote:
This is so incredibly stupid.

So does that also mean, that PA will stop issuing out of state LTCF if this is passed?
Click to expand...
I don't think that's what it means. Read HB2536. It means that PA residents will be required to have a PA LTCF in order to carry concealed or in a vehicle.
Click to expand...


The bill does not affect nonresidents. See below:

(15) Any person, except a resident of this Commonwealth, who possesses a valid and lawfully issued license or permit to carry a firearm which has been issued under the laws of another state, regardless of whether a reciprocity agreement exists between the Commonwealth and the state under section 6109(k), provided:
Click to expand...
The underlined portion is the only change to the current statute.
 
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mrjam2jab

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this thing is a Philadelphia-based idea.

Philly PD is having an "issue" with when they illegally deny/revoke a license the resident will then apply to FL or UT and carry with that license instead.
 
We-the-People

We-the-People

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ComradeV wrote:
Maybe if Philadelphia issued licenses in accordance with the law of the commonwealth they wouldn't have people getting expensive permits from other states?
Click to expand...
Ya think? Kinda the same thing going on in California. The vast majority of open carriers there would prefer to CC but can't get a CC license.... so they OC to piss off the "establishment".
 
M

mrjam2jab

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ComradeV wrote:
Maybe if Philadelphia issued licenses in accordance with the law of the commonwealth they wouldn't have people getting expensive permits from other states?
Click to expand...

Exactly. Instead of smacking PPD down to size, this politician (from outside the city) is coddling them....looking forward to higher office... :cuss:
 
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c45man

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mrjam2jab said:
ComradeV wrote:

Exactly. Instead of smacking PPD down to size, this politician (from outside the city) is coddling them....looking forward to higher office... :cuss:
Click to expand...

Not to worry, this anti-gun zealot Lentz does not have the votes to get the legislation out of committee. The vote has been pushed back to September. This pathetic political hack, bryan lentz, has never been on the prevailing side of any piece of anti-gun legislation. In fact, his ideas are so idiotic that the democratic party majority in the committee won't even support him.
 
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