PENNSYLVANIA'S ILLEGAL GUN TRADE
PLACES POLICE OFFICERS IN HARM'S WAY
Calling for more officers on the street without doing more to disarm criminals is reckless and puts police at risk.
Contact: Phil Goldsmith 215-901-6405
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PENNSYLVANIA'S ILLEGAL GUN TRADE
PLACES POLICE OFFICERS IN HARM'S WAY
Calling for more officers on the street without doing more to disarm criminals is reckless and puts police at risk.
Philadelphia, PA (October 31, 2007): In the wake of the second police shooting in a day, and the fifth in only four days, CeaseFire Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth's leading organization to prevent gun violence, urges all lawmakers in the General Assembly to support new laws that make it harder for criminals to obtain guns through illegal channels. Phil Goldsmith, president of CeaseFire PA, expressed outrage at the lawmakers who have been holding up reasonable measures that would go far to limit the handguns flowing onto the illegal market. Our police are in the crosshairs each time they respond to a call. While they don't hesitate to protect us, there are many in the state who are not doing enough to protect them.
In three different neighborhoods in Philadelphia, including Center City, police officers have been shot by criminals who had no trouble obtaining a gun, Goldsmith continued. It is offensive and irresponsible for lawmakers to duck their obligations by calling for stepped up enforcement of existing gun laws, without doing more to help protect the police on the streets in the first place. Two bills currently pending in the General Assembly would go far to stop the carnage we've see this week. HB22, One Handgun per Month, would prevent straw purchasers from so easily buying the many handguns that they funnel to illegal gun traffickers. HB29 would make it easier to identify those straw purchasers through the reporting of lost and stolen firearms.
We call on all members of the General Assembly to do more to protect our law enforcement officers who are on the front lines, by doing more to keep illegal handguns off the streets, Goldsmith concluded.
111 South Independence Mall East, Suite 572 Philadelphia, PA 19106
Office: (215) 923-3151 Fax: (215) 923-3385 Email: info@CeaseFirePA.org www.CeaseFirePA.org
