PA Tops States in Lost/Stolen Guns; House Proposes Gun Reforms [VIDEO]

[Counterpoint PA]

This is a video from my new show, Counterpoint PA, the only grassroots progressive newscast exclusively about Pennsylvania politics.

In this video, I talk about a new report from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that reveals in 2012 Pennsylvania had the highest number of lost or stolen guns from federally licensed gun dealers of any state in the nation and that it had the seventh highest number of total lost or stolen guns among the states. Then, I discuss legislative proposals in the PA House that would ameliorate this and other gun problems in the state.

For a transcript, links to the sources used in this story, and to browse the new categorized video archive, go to http://counterpointpa.org.

Stay in touch on social media on Twitter @CounterpointPA and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CounterpointPA.

Stay tuned this week for Counterpoint PA's special homage to Keith Olbermann, the Worst Pennsylvanians of the Week!

[ExCop-LawStudent]

1. Don't quit your day job

Or hire someone with a better presence on screen who doesn't talk in a monotone.

Better material might help also. All you talked about was the same tired old proposals that have yet to work anywhere.

Instead of magazine bans, which "might" give the victims a chance to escape, why not fix the problem? All mass shooting but one have occurred in gun free zones. Why not outlaw gun free zones, or at least make the property owner liable for any deaths or injuries that occur because he took the victim's right to protect themselves away?

[Counterpoint PA]

5. I'm working on my presence but I think I've gotten quite a bit better since I first started two

months ago, so I feel like I'm on a good trajectory there. (Also, check out Worst Pennsylvanians of the Week if you want to see me in a more expressive mode, this segment is deliberately more in a straightforward Democracy Now! style.) These types of proposals are discussed in cable and broadcast television newscasts, so I think you could have incorporated that point into your post in a better way. Please try to separate the personal from the policy next time for a more constructive discussion.

[gejohnston]

2. gun stores are like banks

in that ripping one off is a federal crime. The record keeping, inventory control, and security requirements are also federal for the most part. So, what is Harrisburg doing that the ATF isn't? It seems that ATF needs to investigate and work with dealers and local police to solve the problem.
Magazine capacity is a red herring and irrelevant to the problem.

[Counterpoint PA]

6. Yeah, I mentioned in the beginning that for the dealers reporting is already mandated. That bill is

about individuals having to report. I disagree about magazine capacity, but it is an openly progressive show so I gave the progressive description.

[CokeMachine]

3. Yawn -- another blogflog. Where have I seen that before??

Oh, and welcome to DU.

[Counterpoint PA]

7. Sorry for the flogging, there aren't many places like this on the internet and my posts seem to be

getting mostly positive feedback. It's not like I actually have a promotion budget for the show! So grassroots my knees have grass stains.

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. Protip: There's something you need to get changed first...

Which would be the constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:


http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/00/00.001.021.000..HTM

Right to Bear Arms
Section 21.
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.

Make an serious and realistic effort to change that small detail, and then we'll talk..

[Counterpoint PA]

8. As far as I understand it - and this is not a constitutional matter I've looked into in detail, I

admit - the US Supreme Court ruling that said gun ownership was a right also made clear that the government can regulate the right as necessary. So just as quoting that line wouldn't apply for a slew of examples of weaponry we probably both agree no civilian should be allowed to have, it also doesn't apply with the types of modest reforms talked about in this video. Agree with them or not, they are constitutional, laws like them have been in place and not struck down before.

[CreekDog]

9. i'm glad you quoted that. it shows us two things

1) the right to bear arms is not stated as something that cannot be regulated.

2) despite quoting that, you don't even know this, rendering anything you say on the matter ignorant and useless, and you flood DU with your opinions regularly.

this should save me some time in the future.

[friendly_iconoclast]

10. Meh. I've been called worse by better, and life will go on.