May 12-18, 2005

slant

Shoot This Down

Think Philly should take charge of its own gun laws? I don't.

by J. Matthew Wolfe

There is a question on the ballot in the primary election that is going to win overwhelmingly. You should be in the minority and vote NO.

City Council has placed a referendum question on the ballot that asks whether Philadelphia should be able to make its own laws to reduce and prevent gun violence. Here is what it says:

Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to call upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the governor to pass legislation that would permit Philadelphia to enact constitutionally lawful legislation to prevent and reduce gun violence?

Ignoring the poor draftsmanship — governors do not pass legislation — the concept has some appeal. Gun violence is bad, right? Who could disagree with that? No one, of course. Voting yes will help us prevent gun violence, right? Well, not really.

Generally, whenever Philadelphia is treated differently than the rest of the state, we get screwed. The state allowed us to be the only county in the state with a wage tax. How badly has that worked out? This year, every school district in the state will have an option to reduce its property taxes due to the slot machine revenue. Every school district in the state but Philadelphia. Time and time again, special treatment for Philadelphia is bad for Philadelphia. Giving City Council and our mayor any more influence over our lives is almost always a bad idea.

What do our wise elected officials want to do? The mayor complains that there are 28,000 permits to carry guns in Philadelphia. He has talked about a moratorium on issuing new permits (which would be illegal). He is clear that he wants Philadelphia to have the authority to be more restrictive in granting permits.

Those with carry permits are generally law-abiding citizens without criminal records who carry guns for protection. When was the last time that you heard about someone arrested for murder who had a permit to carry a gun? It does not happen very often. Last year, very few of those 28,000 permits were revoked — less than 20. Do these guns seem to be a problem?

There are other ideas that may make sense. Limiting the number of handguns that can be purchased per month, for example. Let's say, however, that Philadelphia is allowed to put its own restrictions in place. No problem! Even stupid criminals know where City Line Avenue is. Cross the street and there are no restrictions. Not that many criminals are buying guns from legit dealers anyway.

If such restrictions were to have any positive effect, they would have to be enacted on a statewide basis.

The biggest fraud of this referendum, however, is that it is nonbinding. In other words, meaningless. Worthless. A waste of time. And a waste of money.

Voters will think that by voting YES that they will then have new laws passed that will help prevent and reduce gun violence. That is simply not the case. State law specifically prevents Philadelphia from regulating guns. Passing this referendum, even unanimously, will not change this. Passing this referendum will not even change the Home Rule Charter that it refers to. Passing this referendum will not do a thing.

I suspect Council knows this, yet they voted for the bill to put this referendum on the ballot. They all voted for it. It passed unanimously. I guess they were all afraid that if they voted against it that they would be branded as being in favor of gun violence. Don't show the same yellow streak that City Council did. Don't be afraid to vote NO on the referendum. A YES vote simply makes it more difficult to work with the state Legislature to move toward real solutions to a problem that is all too real. A YES vote just encourages Council to waste our time with more pointless referenda on future ballots.

Don't have any illusions, however: It will pass anyway. That's just the way it is.

J. Matthew Wolfe is a ward leader and attorney. If you would like to respond to this Slant or have one of your own (750 words), contact Duane Swierczynski, editor in chief, City Paper, 123 Chestnut St., third floor, Phila., PA 19106 or e-mail Duane Swierczynski.