Friday, April 5, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
23
comments
@
From the News Desk
Latest News Stories
 
Quick-acting gumshoe nabs suspects
 
Corbett names new health secretary and inspector general
 
Toomey could be key to a deal on guns
 
Suit filed vs.Turkish-run charter school
 
Lockheed Martin working on new missile defense system
More News »
News Blogs
 
Trudy Rubin's Worldview: My favorite foreign story of the week about 2 hours ago
 
PhillyClout: City Council to hold neighborhood budget meeting 8:04pm
Stay Connected

Tougher gun penalties proposed for Phila.

DA Seth Williams and other local DAs, legislators, police officials endorse tougher gun bill for Philadelphia, April 4, 2013. ( DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer )
DA Seth Williams and other local DAs, legislators, police officials endorse tougher gun bill for Philadelphia, April 4, 2013. ( DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer )
Allison Steele, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Posted: Thursday, April 4, 2013, 9:05 PM

District Attorney Seth Williams wants to send a new message to Philadelphia residents who walk around with illegal guns:

"You carry, you do two."

Williams, flanked Thursday by a group of politicians and district attorneys from surrounding counties who attended a news conference at Philadelphia Police Headquarters, announced a proposed new law that would slap an added two-year prison sentence on anyone caught in the city with an illegal firearm.

"This is not about gun control," said Williams, who added that the proposal should be seen as "uncontroversial."

The legislation is being brought to the state House and Senate with bipartisan support.

State Sen. Larry Farnese (D., Phila.), who cosponsored the bill, said the city is in the throes of "an epidemic of gun violence," and that law enforcement agencies have been asking that stronger gun laws be enacted.

"No more B.S," Farnese said. "No more screwing around. . .This has to happen."

Farnese and cosponsor Rep. John Taylor (R., Phila.) said they would work to get the bill to the governor's desk as soon as possible.

Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the department arrests more than 1,000 people with illegal guns each year. Many of those go on to shoot and kill people, he said.

"We're thankful for this," he said of the proposal.

 

Contact staff writer Allison Steele at 610-313-8113 or asteele@phillynews.com

 

Allison Steele INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
23
comments
email
You May Also Like
Comments  (23)
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:34 PM, 04/04/2013
    How is this not a law already! Shhesh. What is the punishment for carrying an illegal firearm? I don't see "mandatory minimum" mentioned anywhere, which means two years is really 1 year. When you have judges in Philadelphia that hand out INSANELY LIGHT sentences, every day, all year long, what you get is the toilet that is the city of PHiladelphia. Murder: 3 years, Rape: 1 year, Assault and Battery: probation. Conviction rate of violent crime: 33% !!! 67% of violent offenders never serve even ONE DAY in prison. Those are the facts of Philadelphia.
    — warrentheape
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:38 PM, 04/04/2013
    At first glance, most Gun Rights Supporters would be OK with this as it doesn't appear to infringe on gun rights and only creates prison terms for those caught and convicted for possession of ILLEGAL GUNS.

    Now that being settled, since Philly doesn't have enough room for existing prisoners...where do these criminals go???
    — Professor1982
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:42 PM, 04/04/2013
    What a joke.
    — BlueberryLetter23
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:51 PM, 04/04/2013
    Nice political posturing for the cameras, you still need judges that will actually put them in jail.
    — dcn
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:53 PM, 04/04/2013
    Violators will never see the inside of a prison. They'll manipulate thru politics and their elected officials and go free. If they do make it to the "little" house, they will be first on the overcrowded list to get out free. Is Farnese running soon, because this pure and plain political grandstanding. I will soon be moving into the 2nd Senatorial district once held by Farnese's friend Fumo and my friend Frank Lynch. I intend to keep my eye on this law, if passed.
    — Frank J Graff
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:54 PM, 04/04/2013
    So what makes you think that a two year sentence is going to make a difference??? They are suppose to get 5 years now under the current law...
    — IceCold
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:55 PM, 04/04/2013
    How many were sent up on the one year mandantory law for discharging a weapon in the City? Let's look at those figures first.
    — Frank J Graff
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:57 PM, 04/04/2013
    Another 'feel good' comment so headlines can be created for next elections TV commercials.
    — snorkle
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:14 PM, 04/04/2013
    IF YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH GUNS in Philly, you'd better go into the military. It's going to be sad, seeing young boys going to jail and screwing up their lives but it's waaaay better than my being shot in the back or the head in the dark and left for dead.
    See ya'! Do forget to write.
    — black prince
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:21 PM, 04/04/2013
    OMG .... does this mean that the next rapper that gets caught with a gun might actually face a penalty? What will Beanie say? Nah ... never happen. Why don't the gun control wing nuts protest the fact that the 40,000 gun laws already on the books are rarely enforced in urban centers bacause enforcing them wiould be percieved as racist.
    — TonyMarino
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:28 PM, 04/04/2013
    What a joke - soon the mayor and DA will hold another "get a gift card for turning in a gun; no questions asked". The same people keep showing up with guns getting more free gift cards. What a waste of TV space.
    — victim35
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:32 PM, 04/04/2013
    § 6106. Firearms not to be carried without a license.
    (a) Offense defined.--
    (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any person who carries a firearm in any vehicle or any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license under this chapter commits a felony of the third degree. (up to seven year sentence)
    — MaggieL
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:46 PM, 04/04/2013
    and there you have, fact this was just a publicity stunt, the laws they do not enforce now are stricter than what they are proposing.
    — dcn
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:38 PM, 04/04/2013
    How are additional regulations on law abiding folks going to stop criminals from breaking the law? I wish Blondell would run for Mayor.
    — *Chuck*
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:40 PM, 04/04/2013
    As a "legal" gun owner, I'm all for harder sentences for those convicted of fiream crimes. However, enforcement of existing laws in the city is already lax, and even when the DA does prosecute, the perps plead to lesser sentences or the judges give probation or very little jail time.
    — Moe_Syzlak


| View All Comments | View All By Latest
View comments: 1  |  2