I found it disturbing to see squabbles break out over who endorsed whom in the recent elections. It seems to me that rather than fighting each other over who we support, our time can be better spent holding whomever gets elected accountable -- especially when they get elected with the support of "progressives." Well, here's your chance, I'm forwarding some very disturbing info about Leanna Washington:

Friends:
If you didn't see it, please take a moment to read yesterday's Editorial from the Inquirer below. It takes PA Sen. Leanna Washington, the sponsor of the statewide One Handgun A Month bill (S-1002), to task for seeking a damaging compromise at a very early stage of the advocacy campaign.
For those of you who don't know, Washington came to the PATH (Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns) Coalition and asked to sponsor S-1002. Too soon she got skittish and then quickly fell under the sway of powerful Sen. Vince Fumo, chief water carrier for the gun lobby in Harrisburg. So, now Washington has betrayed PATH by introducing a new bill (S-1241) designed by the gun lobby for failure.
Her betrayal of the citizens of her district (who will suffer the gun violence that S-1241 will do nothing to stop), her own sponsorship and PATH has led her to demand of Sen. Stewart Greenleaf that his Judiciary Committee only consider S-1241 and not S-1002. That's what passes for leadership for Washington.
One wonders whether Washington knows that she is doing the work of the gun lobby or is too naive to be aware of it. Whichever, as the Inquirer wrote: "She should be ashamed."
We have heard from many of you who communicated your dismay to Washington at her damaging intent and act. I hope even more of you will advise her at once that you see what she is doing, that you deplore her intent to dump S-1002 and that you implore her to do the right thing and promote the statewide One Handgun A Month bill of which she is the original sponsor.
Again, her contact info is:
155-D Wadsworth Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19150
(215) 242-0472
washington@pasenate.com
For more information on this issue, see www.PATHCoalition.org

Let's hope we can, by working together, keep this dangerous thing from happening, for the sake of all Pennsylvanians and New Jerseyans.
Best,
Bryan
Bryan Miller
Executive Director
Ceasefire NJ
(856) 371-3038

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http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/14881241.htm
Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted on Fri, Jun. 23, 2006

Editorial | The Lightning Round

Folding too soon

Word has it that Pennsylvania State Sen. LeAnna M. Washington (D., Phila.) will soon offer a watered-down bill to impose a one-handgun-per-month limit.

She should be ashamed.

Washington should be ashamed not because she's willing to compromise on the issue, but because it's the wrong compromise.

Powerful State Sen. Vincent Fumo (D., Phila.) says he'll support the ban if it's limited to Philadelphia and has a seven-year "sunset" provision.

This shows movement by Fumo, a member of the National Rifle Association who apparently sees how current rules allow guns bought legally at gun shops to be quickly resold on the street for criminal purposes.

But enacting a limit only in Philadelphia is folly. Thugs and gun dealers will go just over the border to nearby suburbs to do business.

Here's the best compromise: Pass a statewide one-handgun-per-month bill that has an opt-out provision for counties where gun control remains a dirty word. Accept the seven-year sunset provision, then enforce the law effectively so that its benefits will spur public pressure to retain the ban.

If Washington surrenders, another senator should summon the courage to promote a life-saving compromise.

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http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/opinion/14874298.htm

Philadelphia Daily News

Posted on Thu, Jun. 22, 2006

Phony-baloney 'gun reform'

By BRYAN MILLER

WHAT DO politicians do when they're under pressure from press and constituents, but lack the clout, skill or patience to do real heavy-lifting?

They propose meaningless half-measures, call them "first steps," feign concern, gather similarly challenged colleagues and talk of the need for compromise. It's the politicians' dance that bamboozles and avoids responsibility

Well, watch out, Philadelphia. Here it comes. This time the dance will be about the growing scourge of gun violence.

We'll soon hear that a watered-down and time-limited one-handgun-a-month bill is on tap, which will do little, if anything, to save lives. Pols' sweat will be saved, but not our tears.

It appears that Philadelphia legislators have dumped the statewide one-handgun-a-month bill gaining public support by leaps and bounds for a Philly-only bill that would "sunset" in seven years. The new bill, like cotton candy, looks and tastes good - but it's ultimately unfulfilling.

The problem is the unfettered flow of guns onto Delaware Valley streets from Pennsylvania gun shops. It's estimated that five of every six guns recovered from crimes are illegal. Federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms data and law-enforcement testimony confirm the virulence of Philly's illegal gun market.

The sensible thing to do is limit the illegal movement of guns from gun shops to the street via the existing statewide one-handgun-a-month-bill (S-1002 and HB-871).

But here's the rub - it won't work on a Philly-only basis. A recently published report pointed to Lou's Loans in Upper Darby as among the nation's leaders in supplying guns recovered from crime. Lou's is a couple of hundred feet from the city line, and you wouldn't know it was a gun shop by looking at it. But, Philly gun traffickers and straw buyers do.

A Philly-only law would increase the sales of Lou's and other suburban dealers. City gun dealers would relocate across the city line, and there would be no effect on the volume of illegal guns - or the carnage on our streets.

Look at Chicago. It has a handgun ban, but traffickers just go to nearby suburbs, load the trunks of their cars with handguns, and it's back to the Windy City to sell them on the streets.

The same would occur with a Philly-only handgun purchase limit.

THEN THERE'S the bogus seven-year "sunset" provision.

Term-limited laws are gun-lobby favorites (witness the expiration of the federal assault-weapons ban in 2004). But they only make sense if expiration is the goal. It's a setup for failure.

The mover behind the weaker bill is Sen. Vince Fumo, long the gun lobby's water-carrier. It's a brilliant, if depressingly cynical, move on his part. He'll wear the white hat of protector from gun violence, while doing the gun lobby's bidding.

The uncomfortable fact is that the only way to get the effective statewide legislation enacted is through long-term, committed and focused advocacy.

Philly politicians who are in it for the long haul, to do real work to reduce the killing instead of seeking to pass the easiest thing possible, are also required. Sadly, we're about to witness another pols' dance, and the citizens of the region will pay the piper.

Oh, and by the way, why is a Jersey guy weighing in on this? Because it's Pennsylvania guns that are killing Jersey citizens. This is a regional problem, not susceptible to a Philly-only solution.

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Bryan Miller is executive director of Ceasefire NJ.

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