In the meantime, please take a few minutes to thank the members of the legislative branches of government who worked on our behalf to encourage the Supreme Court toward this position.

US Senate
Bob Casey

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Arlen Specter

• Twitter – @SenArlenSpecter
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US Congress
Jason Altmire

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Christopher Carney

• Twitter – @ChrisCarneyPa10
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Charlie Dent

• Twitter – @DentforCongress
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Jim Gerlach

• Twitter – @JimGerlach
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Tim Holden

• Twitter – @TimHoldenPA17
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Paul Kanjorski

• Twitter – @kanjo4congress
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Patrick Murphy

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Tim Murphy

• Twitter – @RepTimMurphy
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Joe Pitts

• Twitter – @JoePitts4PA
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Todd Platts

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Bill Shuster

• Twitter – @RepBillShuster
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Glenn Thompson

• Twitter – @CongressmanGT
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State Officials
Tom Corbett

• Twitter – @CorbettforGov
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Joe Scarnati

Karen Boback

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Michele Brooks

Bryan Cutler

• Twitter – @RepBryanCutler
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Bill DeWeese

Glen Grell

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Rob Kauffman

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Mark Keller

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John Maher

Daryl Metcalfe

• Twitter – @DarylMetcalfe

Merle Phillips

Kathy Rapp

RoseMarie Swanger

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Will Tallman

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Katie True

Following the rally, participants formed over a dozen groups which visited the offices of state representatives. Dialoging with both pro-2nd Amendment and anti-gun legislators, seeking support for a number of pro-rights bills.

• H.B. 40 – Castle Doctrine
• H.B. 750 – Correcting Firearm Transportaion Laws
• H.B. 1541 – Punishing Municipalities for Premption Violations

Articles reporting on the event:

• GrassrootsPA
• PittsburgLive
• Whyy.org
• KYW1060
• WITF

REGISTER NOW FOR THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS RALLY

PAFOA has created special discussion threads on our forums where you can organize with other gun owners for a ride share to Harrisburg. Whether you’ve got a full-sized van with rows of seating, a family sedan with a couple of spots around the baby seat, or a motorcycle with sidecar, you can find folks in your area who may be willing to share expenses and keep you company.

Lawyers from both side were given the chance to argue their sides before the Justices today, but the overwhelming public opinion is that the Justices will side with the same division as the Heller opinion in a 5 to 4 decision. In Heller, Justices Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito sided in favor of second amendment rights while the remaining Justices dissented. The case is important to both sides as it will have sweeping effects on the ability of states to restrict citizens second amendment rights.

Filed on the same day the Heller decision was decided, this case differs, if only slightly. Washington, D.C. , the center of the Heller case, is of direct federal jurisdiction rather than a city with local and state jurisdictions applying. During arguments today, the divide remained

Link to the case briefs: McDonald v. City of Chicago, IL, Docket No. 08-1521

The coverage is wide, but here are some relevant articles:

By its conclusion, it seemed plain that the court would extend a 2008 decision that first identified an individual right to own guns to strike down Chicago’s gun control law, widely considered the most restrictive in the nation.

New York Times: Supreme Court Still Divided On Guns

The Supreme Court seemed likely to rule for the first time that gun possession is fundamental to American freedom, a move that would give federal judges power to strike down state and local weapons laws for infringing on Second Amendment rights.

The Wall Street Journal: New Ammunition for Gun Rights

To no one’s surprise, the justices gave no sign that they’ve changed their minds in the past two years. Several talked as if the issue when they rule won’t be whether to restrain gun control nationwide but how much room to leave for “reasonable” state and local limits. And that, indeed, is the important question.

Our view on the Second Amendment: Extend gun rights, but leave room for reasonable limits

For example, Lt. Lisa King cites concerns that applicants to out-of-state licensing authorities might have been arrested, but never convicted of any crimes. To her, such a situation seemingly demands the denial of Constitutional rights without any effort by authorities to prove guilt. Fortunately for those of us who believe in the rule of law, our justice system is one based on a presumption of innocence until the state can prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury of our peers.

District Attorney Seth Williams, whose office frequently refuses to process cases of known criminals who are disqualified from owning – let along carrying – a gun, announced plans for his “legislation unit” to look into the matter. Residents of Philadelphia might ask why their tax dollars are being used to lobby rather than prosecute those who have actually committed crimes.

As initially mentioned to the Daily News reporter, PAFOA has firsthand accounts of those who have faced the abusive and arbitrary licensing requirements of the City. When licenses of the victims are regularly revoked simply because a home or car is broken into, it is clear that the Police Department would rather pick on easier targets – those who seek to follow the law – than investigate cases of actual criminals.

Attorney General Tom Corbett’s spokesperson came to the defense of those who opt for an out-of-state permit, noting that the requirements for Florida are actually more strict than Pennsylvania. Though that did not stop the anti-gun group, CeasefirePA from blaming him for the practice. In an admission to the paper, the organization said this is an opening salvo in a planned attack on the Attorney General in the upcoming gubernatorial elections.

Finally, the article does reveal that the Police Department plans to work closely with the District Attorney on the issue. One might assume this means they will work together to prosecute more cases against violent criminals. However, rather than concentrating on getting dangerous people off the streets of Philadelphia, King announced a plan to subpoena records from Florida in order to target the Philadelphia residents who have lawfully obtained a permit from the state. It speaks volumes that the City leaders would rather use resources and manpower to target those who can pass multiple background checks and have appropriate firearms training rather than focusing on putting more hardened criminals behind bars.

As most gun owners in Pennsylvania know, owning or carrying a firearm in the city of Philadelphia can be risky given the history of abuses by the city’s police department. Under current PPD policy, law abiding carry license holders have had their license revoked for being victims of theft, including having their houses broken into. At PAFOA, we’ve also had reports of the police department illegally revoking permits of members issued by other counties when the victim’s car was broken into while visiting the city.

In fact, the abuse of license holders is reflected by the PPD’s inexplicable permit revocation rate of nearly 12%, while every other county (including Allegheny which contains Pittsburgh) is well below 1%. When the stats are run, Philadelphia is responsible for  30-40% of all carry permit revocations in the entire state each year.

As a result, it is not surprising that some gun owners may opt for the more uniform standards of another state license over the discriminatory abuses of the Philadelphia Police Department. In times of tighter budgets, some gun owners may also opt to carry only one license from a state which is more widely recognized than ours instead of getting multiple.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.

Most voters don’t spend Friday night tuned into PCN – Pennsylvania’s version of C-SPAN – to watch coverage of small political events. Perhaps that’s what the Democratic gubernatorial candidates were counting on when they debated at the Pennsylvania Progressive Summit. Hoping gun owners, especially those registered with their party, wouldn’t find out, each of the candidates pledged to support various gun control policies.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato launched his slate of new gun control policies with a statewide lost and stolen law, followed by ending preemption (particularly if he can’t get the lost and stolen legislation passed), and mandatory “child safety locks.” Onorato did not specify whether his mandatory lock policy would apply to only sales of firearms or whether it would also apply to gun storage.

Auditor General Jack Wagner dodged most state policy issues on gun rights, describing his agenda as keeping guns out of the hands of “bad people.” The one specific policy Wagner highlighted was his support of a ban on semi-automatic rifles.

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty made ending preemption the priority gun control agenda item in his response at the debate. The second policy he would push if elected governor is to institute one gun-a-month restrictions for all gun sales in Pennsylvania. He did not expand on whether this included a formal registry of gun owners and their purchasers, so we’re left with little information on how such sales would be tracked and restricted.

Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel ended the round of answers with little more than a political version of “all of the above.” Specifically, he named these priorities: gun sales limits, lost and stolen legislation, mandatory locks, and the end of state preemption. In addition to the previously discussed issues, Hoeffel also supports a ban on private sales of firearms in Pennsylvania.

No Republican candidates took part in the debate, though organizers indicated that invitations were extended.

The goal of the License to Carry (LTC) program is to provide a statewide system to provide a standardized method of completing the application, submitting the information to PSP, obtaining confirmation of a successful transaction with PSP, and issuing the identification card for those individuals seeking a license to carry a firearm.

(source: License to Carry Standardization and Modernization, https://www.pccdegmis.state.pa.us/pccd_egmis/Public/OpenAnnouncements.aspx)

PA Legislative Act 2005-66 added section (h)(2) to 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109.

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency shall implement, within five years of the effective date of this paragraph, a system in conjunction with the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Sheriffs’ Association to standardize and modernize the process of issuing licenses to carry firearms. Upon implementation of the system under this paragraph, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency shall publish notice thereof in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

Deputy Sheriff’s Training Bulletin on the new License to Carry system (Search for: Deputy Sheriff Training Bulletin 89 July 2009.pdf)

The Requirements

All applicants are required to:

• Provide their real name, address, and phone number to the organization.
• Blog under their real first name and last initial (at least.)
• Have experience blogging.
• Be willing to dedicate enough time to submit at least one blog post a week (assuming there is something to submit of course.)
• Be willing to work with an editorial staff to ensure the quality and consistency of the blog.
• Be OK working with us as we collectively figure out how to smoothly run such an operation. This is going to be a learning process for all of us.

Applicants will get bonus points for:

• Having a history of positive contribution to our discussion forum.
• Experience with Wordpress.
• Experience blogging in the gun blogosphere.
• Being willing to blog under their real, full name.
• Being a resident of Pennsylvania.

To Apply

UPDATE: We have received a bunch of applications which we will be reviewing shortly and choosing the first round of bloggers. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, applications are no longer being accepted at this time.

Email blog@pafoa.org with the following information:

• Your Name.
• Your PAFOA Forum Username, if you have one.
• A summary of your blogging experience.
• Links to any blogs you run or have written for.
• Days/times when you will/will not be able to post entries to the blog. (For example if you can’t blog during work hours, please let us know.)

PAFOA thanks all applicants in advance and we look forward to hearing from you! Please keep in mind that we are not yet sure how many applications we are going to get, so depending on that not all applicants may be selected in the first round.

Pro-gun groups at every level have taken on this battle to educate mayors and reduce Bloomberg’s political force in the states.  At PAFOA, our efforts have focused on a quiet education strategy.  However, for those mayors who have so far refused to resign from the group, it is now time to turn up the grassroots pressure that has successfully convinced others to leave.

After a thorough analysis of the Pennsylvania coalition of mayors working with Bloomberg was posted by NRA Election Volunteer Coordinators in mid-August, we worked together to create a strategy to convince MAIG mayors to resign their membership in the organization.

View Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Mayors in Pennsylvania on a map.

Looking at the map, we conducted detailed research into each of the towns and picked 15 starter cities based on the likely impact of PAFOA residents. Each PAFOA member who received an email this morning lives in a city where, if gun owners work together, they can make a difference for the Second Amendment.

In August, I sent each of the targeted mayors a letter in hopes that a simple explanation of the actions by Mayor Bloomberg in their name would inspire each of them to resign from the organization. In early September, NRA sent their members in key cities postcards calling for grassroots opposition to the members of MAIG. The response to these mailings has been tremendous. Of the original 15 mayors targeted by PAFOA, only two have resigned. Of the mayors NRA targeted in Pennsylvania, 15 have given up their membership. Here are the mayors who have parted ways with Mayor Bloomberg since that time:

• Akron Mayor John McBeth
• Beech Creek Mayor David E. Orr
• Bowmanstown Mayor Keith G. Billig
• Brackenridge Mayor Jeffrey Cowan
• East Berlin Mayor Keith Hoffman
• Gettysburg Mayor William Troxell
• Harmony Mayor Cathryn H. Rape
• Midway Mayor Karen Bartosh
• Mount Penn Mayor Josh Nowotarski
• North Irwin Mayor Leonard L. Santimyer
• Slatington Mayor Walter Niedermeyer
• Summit Hill Mayor Paul R. McArdle
• Tower City Mayor Dale Deiter
• Ulysses Mayor Jane Haskins
• West Reading Mayor Shane Keller

Before this push began, former Williamsport Mayor Mary Wolf told Bloomberg in her resignation letter, “I have learned that the coalition may be working on issues which conflict with legal gun ownership, and that some actions on your behalf are dubious.” Since her defection in 2007, the condemnation by mayors who felt duped has grown louder. Keith Hoffman of East Berlin said, “They swindle you in and then put your name on the list.”

Many mayors around the country are now beginning to report that they knew nothing about joining the group and never recall signing any pledges to support Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-gun policies. Mayors from South Dakota, Texas, and Florida have publicly confirmed that Mike Bloomberg never sought their permission when signing their names to advertisements condemning concealed carry legislation.

In Pennsylvania, the imperative the encourage mayors to leave Bloomberg’s coalition is clear. In addition to Bloomberg’s attacks on concealed carry reform at the federal level a disturbing trend has emerged in the state level battles. Each of the cities to pass local gun control ordinances in challenges to the state preemption laws is lead by members of MAIG. Pittsburgh’s mayor, a longtime supporter of MAIG, has recently tried to breath life into a gun ban that the state Supreme Court previously struck down as illegal. Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter has been an outspoken supporter of MAIG’s policies, and we don’t need to remind you of all of the gun control attempts the city has made under his watch.

If you received an email from PAFOA this morning asking you to call your mayor, please act soon. There is an opportunity to make a tangible difference in your local community, cut the reach of Michael Bloomberg’s gun control campaign, and stop the spread of anti-gun legislation here in Pennsylvania. The presence of that call to action in your inbox means we’ve crunched the numbers, and we believe you can make a difference for the Second Amendment.

If you did not receive an email, please confirm that we have your town or zip code on file. This information is what we use to analyze whether enough PAFOA members are likely to make a difference in the local battles. If you do have correct location information in your profile, keep an eye out for future calls to action.