Pennsylvanians turn out for gun rights at Harrisburg rally
by Dave Workman
Senior Editor
On the same day the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed on a 200-0 vote a comprehensive gun law package, pro-gun activists and lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg to rally against attacks on their gun rights.
House Bill 1845 makes it a felony to have a firearm with an altered or erased serial number, adds state penalties for providing false information on a gun purchase form, makes it a crime to falsely report a gun stolen and extends the time from two to five years that charges can be filed against a gun buyer if a gun is traced back to a straw purchase.
Kim Stolfer, chairman of Firearms Owners Against Crime, told Gun Week that the package was the result of pro-gun lobbying to defeat a series of anti-gun amendments a week earlier. He supported the measure that was passed.
But Keystone State gunowners say enough is enough, and they promised to hold anti-gun legislators responsible in November if they push restrictive measures.
The Second Amendment Liberty rally saw conservative Alan Keyes deliver the keynote address, and Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, telling the crowd of more than 500 the importance of political activism and public scrutiny.
Quoted by The Harrisburg Patriot News, Keyes said the battle for gun rights requires “the courage, and the unwillingness to live in the shadow of fear.”
This was the third year for the capitol rally, and Stolfer said the strategy developed by Pennsylvania gun activists is to divide lawmakers up and send individual groups of constituent gunowners around to visit each representative individually. Gunowners, he said, are identifiable by the badges that they wear during their visits around the capital.
Other speakers included: state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Cranberry Republican, who helped organize the event in partnership with firearms civil rights groups across the Keystone State. Metcalfe stressed the importance of educating his colleagues who had earlier voted in support of anti-gun amendments to HB-1845 that were defeated.
“A truly safe and liberty-advancing society is an armed society,” he observed.
Metcalfe was among some 40 state lawmakers from both parties who turned out for the rally and gathered on the Rotunda steps behind the microphone.
“As citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we do not need the US Supreme Court, the United Nations or even the governor to reaffirm our God-given rights to defend our lives, loved ones and property, Metcalfe said.
Reminding the audience that Pennsylvania is the “birthplace of the Declaration of Independence,” Metcalfe noted that Pennsylvania’s state constitution contains explicit language on the right of private citizens to bear arms.
In addition, the crowd heard remarks from Jon Mirowitz of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, Larry Pratt with Gun Owners of America, Melanie Sellinger, executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs and Jeff Knox with the Firearms Coalition.
Keyes held the limelight, however, noting, “You cannot defend your life if you give up the means of that defense. If it is your right to stand in defense of your family and your home, then you have the right and means to enable you to fulfill that obligation.”
Gottlieb quipped to Gun Week that Keyes is “a tough act to follow.”
Defeating amendments to HB-1845 a week before the rally added momentum to the gathering. One of those amendments would have penalized gunowners for not promptly reporting a stolen firearm to the police. GOA’s Pratt told the audience that “the victim (of a theft) should not get punished.”
Perhaps what made anti-gunners bristle the most, though, was that Washington, PA, resident Daniel Plovic won a drawing for a new Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol at the conclusion of the event.
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review quoted Joe Grace, executive director of CeaseFirePa, asserting that the drawing “sent the wrong message.”
Return to Archive Index