PA Bill Number: SR77
Title: A Concurrent Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States to call a Convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the ...
Description: A Concurrent Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States to call a Convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the ...
Last Action: Reported as committed
Last Action Date: Apr 30, 2024
Turn the Hose on Gun Rights Protestors! :: 06/24/2015
“A group of gun rights fanatics protested last week at the home of Senate President Steve Sweeney,” an nj.com editorial reports (substituting the word “fanatics” for “protestors”), “throwing reckless accusations at him, annoying his wife, and scaring the wits out his disabled daughter. Sweeney, after holding his crying daughter in his arms for two hours, turned on his sprinklers to soak the motley crew of malcontents.
To which we say: Right on.” Does the idea of dousing civil rights advocates remind you of anything? [Click here for a trip down memory lane.] The protesters took their “punishment” in stride. But that wasn’t good enough for nj.com . . .
Watch the video of Sweeney, a bulky ironworker with extensive pedigree of bar fights as a young man, and you can see that he showed restraint. If he had his way, he would have pounded them into the ground like railroad spikes.
This crowd blames Sweeney (D-Gloucester) for single-handedly blocking laws to allow concealed-carry gun permits. That’s nutty for a lot of reasons. But the first one is that Sweeney is not to blame. There is almost no support in this state for concealed-carry laws.
Is that “railroad spikes” comment a direct quote or wishful thinking on the paper’s part? Anyway, it appears that the anti-gun paper doesn’t share our view that the natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms is not subject to the democratic process. Like, I dunno, the right to free assembly. Which nj.com supports – within limits.
Yes, this is America and the right to protest is sacred. But federal and state courts have approved limits on the time and manner of protest, especially at private homes. The council in West Deptford is considering restrictions that would force the protester to move 100 feet away from homes, and to limit their protests to one hour every two weeks. That’s overkill, but legal experts say it might survive court challenge.
In the meantime, we urge the protestors take their fight to Trenton, where it belongs. And if they come back at Sweeney, maybe he should pull out the hose.
I wonder how nj.com feels about local pols’ “overkill” response to the pro-gun protest [as reported in a follow-up article] . . .
On Wednesday, the town introduced a proposed ordinance that would regulate picketing in residential areas, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. In an overhaul of a 1971 loitering ordinance, the measure would ban “picketing that is targeted at and is within one hundred (100) feet of the property line of a residential dwelling.”
Beyond that distance, picketing would be limited to no more than 10 people for “one hour every two weeks,” and the West Deptford police would have to be notified at least 24 hours in advance. Violators would be subject to fines of up to $2,000, imprisonment of up to 90 days, or up to 90 days of community service.
And this they’re doing in the name of . . . wait for it . . . money. Which they would do for . . . wait for it . . . anyone.
Democratic Deputy Mayor James Mehaffey said the township had information that the protests were going to get “larger and more direct,” while the town police department says it doesn’t have the manpower to assign an officer to a spontaneous protest.
“We would do this for anyone,” Mehaffey told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Police Chief Samuel DiSimone told the committee that each shift has a minimum of three officers and a maximum of six, and that assigning an officer to a protest would limit the department’s ability to respond to other incidents, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
If you were wondering if the fight to restore Americans’ gun rights was a fight to protect liberty in all its forms, wonder no more.
