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ACSL lawsuit on registra draws national attention
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
ACSL lawsuit draws national attention
If the Supreme Court rules on behalf of the ACSL, the case will be remanded back to Commonwealth Court to be argued via a full trial. ACSL will finally have their day in court.
The year was 1975 and his name was Pete Shields. He founded and became president of his brainchild, Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI). By January 1976, Shields in an interview for a major national magazine laid out his plans.
First, he advocated we must slow the manufacture of handguns. Secondly, we must institute national registration for all handguns. Lastly, we must make all handguns illegal.
Needless to say, confiscation of any firearm cannot happen without complete registration and a data base from which to collect the arms. This was Shields' vision.
In September 2002, the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League (ACSL) will be arguing their case against our Pennsylvania State Police's handgun registration procedures before the state Supreme Court. You should remember last year the ACSL went before Commonwealth Court and requested that all handgun registration be halted per Pennsylvania Act 17 (1995) and Act 5 (1997).
In a 5 to 2 decision the court ruled that the state's handgun registration procedures were legal because they constituted a partial registry and not a complete registry.
If the Supreme Court rules on behalf of the ACSL, the case will be remanded back to Commonwealth Court to be argued via a full trial. ACSL will finally have their day in court.
ACSL also wants former Gov. Tom Ridge to be held responsible in the case. Violation of Act 17 carries a penalty of $250 and 2-5 years in prison for each registration transaction. In a questionnaire from ACSL Ridge stated he wholeheartedly supports gun registration. He readily admits there are 8 million law-abiding gun owners in the state within the State Police database.
Recently, this case has taken on a whole, new, national meaning. Amicus curiae briefs (friend of the court) have been filed by some of the heaviest hitting anti-gun organizations in the nation. The Brady Center Against Handgun Violence (formerly HCI), the US Million Mom March, the Pennsylvania Million Mom March, Cease Fire Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police have all come to the aid of former Ridge and our State Police.
It is easy to see anti-gun forces don't want to lose this one. They are attempting to make this a test case for registration schemes across the nation. The National Rifle Association has jumped into the fray on behalf of ACSL and law-abiding gun owners. Pennsylvania has become the focus of national attention.
Rumor says the legal fees to bring this case to court are going to top $100,000. ACSL is toying with establishment of a statewide legal defense fund.Frankly, I think that is a fantastic idea. One day sportsmen may find it is necessary to sue the Game Commission, DCNR or Fish Commission for some great wrong that must be righted. If our legislators ever decided to make State Game Lands part of State Forest Lands, sportsmen will need huge sums of money to protect their rights and interests. Go to www.acsl.org for the extreme details of this case. I don't know why every self-respecting club in this state hasn't come to the financial aid of ACSL.
Rumor says Ridge is under strong consideration for VP in the 2004 Bush campaign. Why would he take positions contrary to Acts 17 and 5, which he signed into law? Is he getting bad advice? Is it pride or principle? Maybe, it is that all too common political affliction - simply abuse of power and political arrogance.
Jim Slinsky is host and producer of the Sportsmen's Connection, a statewide syndicated outdoor talk radio program. Write him in care of the Courier Times, 8400 Route 13, Levittown, PA 19057, fax 570-325-5537 or e-mail slinskyj@aol.com.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/couriertimes/news/sports_archive/0721slinsky.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
If the Supreme Court rules on behalf of the ACSL, the case will be remanded back to Commonwealth Court to be argued via a full trial. ACSL will finally have their day in court.
The year was 1975 and his name was Pete Shields. He founded and became president of his brainchild, Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI). By January 1976, Shields in an interview for a major national magazine laid out his plans.
First, he advocated we must slow the manufacture of handguns. Secondly, we must institute national registration for all handguns. Lastly, we must make all handguns illegal.
Needless to say, confiscation of any firearm cannot happen without complete registration and a data base from which to collect the arms. This was Shields' vision.
In September 2002, the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League (ACSL) will be arguing their case against our Pennsylvania State Police's handgun registration procedures before the state Supreme Court. You should remember last year the ACSL went before Commonwealth Court and requested that all handgun registration be halted per Pennsylvania Act 17 (1995) and Act 5 (1997).
In a 5 to 2 decision the court ruled that the state's handgun registration procedures were legal because they constituted a partial registry and not a complete registry.
If the Supreme Court rules on behalf of the ACSL, the case will be remanded back to Commonwealth Court to be argued via a full trial. ACSL will finally have their day in court.
ACSL also wants former Gov. Tom Ridge to be held responsible in the case. Violation of Act 17 carries a penalty of $250 and 2-5 years in prison for each registration transaction. In a questionnaire from ACSL Ridge stated he wholeheartedly supports gun registration. He readily admits there are 8 million law-abiding gun owners in the state within the State Police database.
Recently, this case has taken on a whole, new, national meaning. Amicus curiae briefs (friend of the court) have been filed by some of the heaviest hitting anti-gun organizations in the nation. The Brady Center Against Handgun Violence (formerly HCI), the US Million Mom March, the Pennsylvania Million Mom March, Cease Fire Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police have all come to the aid of former Ridge and our State Police.
It is easy to see anti-gun forces don't want to lose this one. They are attempting to make this a test case for registration schemes across the nation. The National Rifle Association has jumped into the fray on behalf of ACSL and law-abiding gun owners. Pennsylvania has become the focus of national attention.
Rumor says the legal fees to bring this case to court are going to top $100,000. ACSL is toying with establishment of a statewide legal defense fund.Frankly, I think that is a fantastic idea. One day sportsmen may find it is necessary to sue the Game Commission, DCNR or Fish Commission for some great wrong that must be righted. If our legislators ever decided to make State Game Lands part of State Forest Lands, sportsmen will need huge sums of money to protect their rights and interests. Go to www.acsl.org for the extreme details of this case. I don't know why every self-respecting club in this state hasn't come to the financial aid of ACSL.
Rumor says Ridge is under strong consideration for VP in the 2004 Bush campaign. Why would he take positions contrary to Acts 17 and 5, which he signed into law? Is he getting bad advice? Is it pride or principle? Maybe, it is that all too common political affliction - simply abuse of power and political arrogance.
Jim Slinsky is host and producer of the Sportsmen's Connection, a statewide syndicated outdoor talk radio program. Write him in care of the Courier Times, 8400 Route 13, Levittown, PA 19057, fax 570-325-5537 or e-mail slinskyj@aol.com.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/couriertimes/news/sports_archive/0721slinsky.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878