Krier, who came unarmed to the Commissioners' meeting because he didn't want to "antagonize anybody." stated that a Township Ordinance banning guns in parks is pre-empted by state law. The state has the sole authority to regulate guns. Under a new law, groups like the NRA or even the tea party can sue municipalities with illegal gun bans. Thus far, nearly two dozen municipalities have repealed gun bans in municipal parks. Locally, Bethlehem has repealed its gun ban, and Allentown is expected to do so on Wednesday.
Guns in parks. What could possibly go wrong?
62 comments:
Hey If Bethlehem lifts the booze ban in its parks and so do the other municipalities, it will be great.
Booze, guns, guys.... What can go wrong? Mix in some kids running amuck and we have something more amazing than a pigeon shoot.
Everyone tells me the tea party is just folks angry about government. They espouse common sense. Then they do this.
Sorry, this is a treabagger move. Get a grip on reality. These folks think they live on the American frontier in 1870.
From the same folks that brought us John Brown and Mezzacappa. Go figure. A line from an old Beatles song comes to mind when I think of these gun nuts... Happiness is a warm Gun!
Do you have any idea how many legally armed citizens visit, and have visited, our parks each day? What could go wrong? Nothing, as has been the case forever. Grow up nanny staters. The world is a scary place when your paranoia trumps your common sense. Now, go cry to yourselves.
I doubt that anyone wanting to do another harm in the parks would be deterred by the current ban. After all, there are already laws against doing harm to others and those laws will remain.
Repealing the gun law will only allow park users to have the means to protect themselves if necessary.
And if The Township believes their current law is actually legal and in compliance with the PA Constitution, they should keep it. I think the reason you see these laws being quickly repealed now is that the munis know the LAWS are illegal.
Don't pass unconstitutional laws and you don't have to worry about being sued. From I heart boobies bracelets, to perp walking Fire Trachta stickerers, to banning legal gun owners from walking in parks, government does lots of stupid things that open it to law suits. The politician(s) who proposed the ban should be publicaly flogged for putting taxpayers' dollars in jeopardy over something so stupid.
Open season on parks? Ha, ha…. No, it’s time for these socialist-progressive town councils to obey the laws they have been violating for decades. Act 192 does in fact give organizations the ability to sue, and yes the LVTP 2nd Amendment Committee will do its part to ensure that municipalities comply with Title 18 Section 6120.
Bethlehem City’s ordinance still does not comply. I would have gone to Bethlehem Township myself last night, but I was at Emmaus Council to see why they have published no change to their ordinances. By the way, as an ex-lawyer you should know Bernie that it is not open season. Open carry is perfectly legal in PA and state laws such as reckless endangerment punish misbehavior with deadly weapons far more harshly than the municipal ordinance’s fine. Laws don’t make a person safe. Police patrols do.
tom Campione, actually a well educated society is the best way to maintain public safety, and we know republicans in general and tea-baggers in particular, hate an educated populace. The reason is quite obvious, educated and intelligent persons tend to NOT vote republican... http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2012/nov/05/larry-sabato/education-level-tied-voting-tendencies/
Tom Campione, folks, is the grand poo=bah of guns at the LVTP. He is all about personal attacks and and braggadocio bullying. Guys like him are why the tea partoes are generally regarded with derision. He can't even laugh at a relatively benign accounting because like most fanatics, he has no sense of humor.
8:22, I cannot allow comments that wish for bad things to happen to other people.
8:37, Actually, I find many of the LV Tea Party members interested in education. Tom Campione, with his paranoia and inability to argue without name-calling, is not one of those people. He also lacks a sense of humor, as his comment indicates. He sets a bad example for his group.
I wish that bad things happen to people who bring guns to any park where children are at play!
"We know that Republicans in general and tea-baggers in particular hate an educated populace"
Are you fucking kidding yourself by allowing this bullshit?
Go back to bashing Brown or the crazy chick that dumped you, buttwipe.
8:50, That crazy "chick", as you refer to her, is one of yours. The comment I allowed is the assessment of one person that the tea party is uneducated. I disagree, but I allow the comment because there is no personal attack. If you believed in the first amendment as much as you believe in the second, you'd understand the importance of differing opinions in a free society. Carry on.
With genetic engineering shoulder holsters can evolve and the dr can insert a snubnose immediately after birth. The womb is a dangerous place. Like parks, just ask the squirrels.
8:50
I provided a link that proves my claim. I see nothing from you but whining....
"The world is a scary place when your paranoia trumps your common sense. "
I see. Not much paranoia by those who think they need to pack to protect themselves from kids playing in a park, eh?
Not long ago, and not far away, a ed Amendment lunatic interrupted a public meeting by shooting up Ross Township, killing three people in the process. One of your members, Tricia Mezzacappa, penned a LTE in which shethanks God that she has more forbearance against West Easton officials.
Measures like these do nothing but encourage more, not less, violence. I believe guns should be banned from all municipal buildings and parks. That needs to come from the state, but the state is terrified of and bought off by the NRA. I remember when the NRA believed in gun safety.
"The politician(s) who proposed the ban should be publicaly flogged for putting taxpayers' dollars in jeopardy over something so stupid."
Most of these ordinances were adopted in the 70s, long before the state preempted gun control. It's not something thy just did now to tweak the noses of gun nuts. But don't let facts get in the way of your floggings. Maybe you can burn a few witches next.
Bernie, I do not know you however, I do know Tom Campione. Why don't you call him or show up at his next meeting to confront him to his face? You accuse him of being all about personal attacks, but you are judging someone you do not even know. I have yet to see him personally attack anyone, but what I do observe is a man of integrity who can back up his statements with truth and with facts. And he doesn't even possess a law degree! Imagine that. If you would go to him personally with your comments instead of hiding behind a keyboard and attacking him, maybe even have a rational discussion, you may even actually learn something from a man who does extensive research and does not shoot his mouth off about issues he knows nothing about. We need more courageous men and women who spend extensive amounts of their free time fighting for the Constitutional rights of every citizen.
I don't hide behind a keyboard. Unlike you, I attach my name to every word I wroute. My assessment of Campione is based on his own comments on this blog, and as recently as today. Just today, he launched one of his usual personal attacks. Just today, he brags about bullying Emmaus. It is Campione who invited a gun nut to seal to your group who has also been tied to racist and anti-Semitic groups. He is hardly what I would call aan of integrity. Nor do I find his arguments particularly knowledgeable.
" it’s time for these socialist-progressive town councils to obey the laws they have been violating for decades."
If Campione were half as knowledgeable as his anonymous defender claims, he'd know that there are no "towns" in Pa. They are cities, townships and boroughs. far from being socialist or progressive, most of the Townships are dominated by conservative Republicans.
Another example of how Campione, a Jersey transplant, gets his facts wrong.
Well you could defend yourself from a rabid animal or a potential attacker, ya know, lots of times weirdos attack joggers or hikers at parks.
Makes sense. You can carry every other place, why the heck not at a park.
I meant that you are hiding behind a keyboard if you are not willing to meet him face to face. I do not see any logic behind your comments. Who cares if he refers to these boards as town councils? You are missing the point while focusing on such trivia. I did not read bragging into the fact that he attended a meeting in Emmaus. No one can be two places at the same time. He fully explains his purpose to attend; to ask "why no change to their ordinances." You regard his statement as bullying? Bullying sounds more like what you post. You are fond of attacking people, and I think you should just do it in person rather than in writing. Just because you write something does not mean it is truth. You call people gun nuts, you say one group or another is tied to racist, anti-Semitic groups and on and on. I do not wish to waste my precious time arguing back and forth as that is not my desire. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, even you, Bernie. You obviously don't like him and are possibly jealous because he was called a man of integrity. Jealousy is a sign of insecurity. As long as he knows his position and is on the side of the facts regarding gun ordinances, he has nothing, or you to fear. People who know him, share his values, spend time and even break bread with him, know exactly who he is and are not at all phased by the lies you spew about him. Again, I would suggest you meet up with him calmly and armed with facts to have an intelligent discussion regarding 2nd Amendment rights, but I believe you may not be capable of such decency. You may fear actually learning something. Life is not a competition, Bernie. We live in the greatest country in the world but are losing more and more of our freedom and liberty everyday. Too bad joining together to fight for Constitutional rights is not one of your objectives.
6:36
If you need a gun to go to the park your a pussy.
I'll tell you why Bernie is jealous of Campione, a little hottie from West Easton who would rather be in the company of a fine Stallion than a bloated old donkey.
Tom Campione is a soaring eagle, a patriot who has led from the front on the war against libtards taking back our fine Christian nation one township park at a time, whereas Bernie skulks around the valley practicing yellow journalism and awkwardly hitting on women in the Prothonotary.
We in the 9-12 project salute you Mr. Campione, keep on fighting for gun rights.
Guns aren't ever something you need, until you need one of course.
Something you don't ever want to use, but you damn sure wanna have it if you need it.
I as a white person am glad that the tea party, 9-12 project is here to protect my rights. Since the KKK has been decimated by liberal progressives we in the white minority are under siege. thank God you have come along to save us.
12:49, I think you make clear, albeit anonymously, what you are. You also forget that I confronted Campione face to face in 2011. I don't care for a fellow who brings on racists and anti-Semites to address the tea party. I think it paints all of you poorly. You apparently like it.
Big changes in the LVTP, save the country fight Obamacare and fascism.
http://www.lvtp.org/homepage-slider-1/
I'm actually ok with carry, open or concealed, in parks.
i'm just disturbed that the people defending that right on this blog appear to be wing-nuts
There are so many guns moving around us each day - at the park, the mall, on the street - that most would be shocked. It's unfortunate that the fringe is most loudly heard in most debates. Most who carry legally, do so responsibly and silently. Just as clinic bombers hurt the anti-abortion mission, and tree spikers hurt the environmentalist mission, and anyone who blocks rush hour traffic hurts whatever is their mission, so too the noisy gun proponents. Every crowd has its fringe and their opposition rightfully uses their outrageousness to discredit the entire cause. When will extremists of every stripe learn this? Probably never.
As long as the 9-12 project dedicated to defending our gun rights has hot young blonds like Tricia leading the way I am all for it. She dumped your progressive libtard ass O'Hare cause she is one hot open carry mamma who believes in concealed and open carry rights. Nothing like a hot blond in spike heels sporting her 9mm.
*Nothing like Mr. Ed in spike heels sporting her 9mm.
Fixed for content (but not grammar) for you 4:29.
There are no "Towns" in Pa. Campione you are more knowledgeable then know-it-all Bernie, I been there many times, and the $64,000 (or should I say $67,000) question is BLOOMSBURG Pa.
Actually... Bethlehem Township has had issues in its parks and bike path park related to assaults, near rapes and drug transactions. Allowing firearms in the park would be a good thing at least in that bike path park.
It would be nice to address gun violence where it's actually occurring, and discuss why the continuing, failed drug war is the problem; not suburban parks. Gun violence is highest in urban areas with minority populations where there's liberal political leadership and, in many cases, stringent gun laws. For Democrat liberals, black lives really don't matter. LBJ's racist, cynical view lives on and is quite strong among the white majority of today's Democratic Party.
Check out the Lehigh Valley Tea Parties Facebook page. Scary....
"LBJ's racist, cynical view lives on and is quite strong among the white majority of today's Democratic Party."
This has what to do with guns??
This is one of the big things that Fox and their billionaire right wing benefactors have fed the baggers with. The only Dem President they hated for years was that damn socialist FDR. Despite the John Birchers(now the teabaggers) attempts to disparage him over the decades, his popularity remains strong. The new strategy has been the systematic destruction of the other Democratic presidents of the 20th century. They have unmercifully ripped up Carter, which wasn't all that hard. Then then went after Wilson as a socialist bigoted progressive who helped destroy America. Many books written by the Koch Brother approved authors to "verify" that of course.
The new kick is to destroy LBJ. They are using many of his old out of context crude and salty quotes to disparage the President who did more to stem systemic racism since Lincoln. Since most of the southern lawmakers of the time were staunch segregationists and frankly racists, and many of those were Democrats, LBJ had to get them to support his civil rights acts. Therefore, he talked to them in ways he knew would work. He appealed to their egos, their prejudices and anything else to get the votes to pass the legislation. You won't read in any of the conservative epistles about how in the 1950's LBJ poked his finger in one southern senators chest as Senate majority leader and asked if the esteemed senator thought it appropriate that the personal secretary of the Majority leader of the US Senate should have to piss in a field because she was not allowed to use the bathroom in that senators home state. No you won't be "fed" that story. Of course as we all know all the old southern segregationist Democrats became Republicans by the mid 1970's, coincidence??
Now the whackos are pushing the tale that LBJ had JFK killed. This is all in a book written by a former Reagan speechwriter and of course highly touted by Fox. That book is a scream and a must read for great fiction.
So is anything these whack jobs do or say surprising anymore?? No not really. Just sit back and enjoy the four year freak show that will be the Republican Presidential primaries and see who can out crazy whom.
As for facts, sorry but I like mine in context and not preapproved by any pundit. And you expect a rational gun policy from this crew???
7:32,
You're kidding, right? LBJ was a terrible racist. He called Blacks, "uppity ni**ers" and said, "I'll have those ni**ers voting Democrat for 100 years." Have you seen Selma? It was produced by well know John Bircher, Oprah Winfrey. I think she's also a regular FOX News contributor who is actually a white man in black face makeup.
You will be able to pick out the Tea Baggers. They are the ones wearing brown uniforms with Republican armbands.
It's pretty hard to argue with the reader who relies upon a movie to make judgments about what happened in history
All the NRA gives a shit about is selling guns and ammo. They do this by perpetuating fear. No one buys a gun if they feel safe, right? ZOMG Obama is gonna take yer guns away! ZOMG the Nanny state! The media is controlling police! Be a VIGILANTE HERO!
The NRA is out of control. Yes, there is a place for gun ownership, if you so wish, but the fear mongering and now pitting our state and local governments against each other in frivolous law suits is downright dangerous. Their influence is now urging the Game Commission to force hiking permits on those getting to or hiking along the Appalachian Trail here in Northampton county is going too far.
"There are no "Towns" in Pa. Campione you are more knowledgeable then know-it-all Bernie, I been there many times, and the $64,000 (or should I say $67,000) question is BLOOMSBURG Pa."
Bloomsburg is the only "town" in Pa. Proving that one exist proves that one exists. It is the sole town. Everything else in a borough, city or township.
A day late, but my two cents worth:
3:58's comment is truer than many will admit. I long ago was surprised at some of the city laws, like Philly, when the PA constitution explicitly states that "the right of the people to bears arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned." Yet, as 3:58 points out, it is the noisy extremist fringe (like "the one" who frequently posted on here defending the likes of Newell and Kessler, or the militia-type fringe) who unfortunately become the "face" of gun owners in the eye of a public that has become much less comfortable with guns than a generation or two ago. Even as a gun owner and Life member of the NRA, who bought a membership for one of my children as a Christmas present, I am often uncomfortable with the hyperbole often screamed from nearly every edition of the monthly magazines. I support the principal, but not always the tactics of the message.
While I question the responsibility (and sanity) of anyone who feels the need to flaunt it openly, I do think the ordinance will ultimately need to be changed per state law. However, if changed I would hope explicit language would be included that one must have LTCF in order to do so.
Society has changed a lot. I can remember my first job interview as a teacher many moons ago. The wall of the principal's office was lined with shotguns. It was hunting season, and students were allowed to bring their guns so they could go right from school, but they had to keep them in the office. Granted that was a semi-rural area, but that would be shocking in today's post-Columbine world, as most schools no longer have rifle teams, many urban/suburban homes do not have legal firearms, and the only exposure to one for many of today's youth is a video game. For those same reasons, I think most are comfortable with bans similar to BT's. That said, responsible ownership is in both the US and PA constitutions until amended otherwise.
The pigeons better watch out where they poop. Enraged pedestrians may go ballistic on them in retaliation.
anon 7:46,
it would appear the posters well written points went right over your tin foil hat. That is the trouble with ideologues. No logic but lots of spoon fed slogans.
Many local high schools had rifle teams in the 50's and 60's. Some had indoor ranges. of course people were much more sane then as opposed to the wing nuts of today. I know hikers and bicyclists who conceal carry everyday. They don't run around bragging about it or shoving it in anyone's face. Ultimately they know if it saves their lives they won't be charged due to sate law. Of course these are ordinary good folks and not attention whores.
The asshole who has to toot around his AR-15 and open carry his .45's is just an asshole and no real friend of responsible gun owners. You do us no favors and frankly, I wish you would grow the hell up. You crave attention and shock value. Much like a certain bleach blonde from West Easton.
anon 7:46 sounds like a real dunce. he will go far ion the teaparty.
"However, if changed I would hope explicit language would be included that one must have LTCF in order to do so."
No can do.. PA is an "Open Carry" state. Requiring a LTCF to carry on Public property not otherwise precluded by State law would be illegal and subject to a lawsuit as is discussed in this blog.
This is loike Alabama passing atheir latesty referendum that Sharia law not be used in official state business. Even the head of the Christian Union in the state said it was one of the dumbest referendums he ever heard of since sharia or any foreign law would be illegal on its face value.
These folks are just like the right wing shock jocks they listen to and watch, they want attention.
Is that the best you've got O’Hare…. calling me a racist? Ha, ha ha…. do you know that my Mom was black?
Your name calling reveals you as an Alinsky-socialist. You just used Rules for Radicals rule #12 “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” to try to label me, in an attempt to isolate and polarize. But you can’t, because you’re not good enough to do political battle with me.
The only reason I’m responding to this column now is to entertain all 7 readers of your blog. Yes, Constitutionalists are learning to fight you progressives. We have the right people in place now here in the Valley, so game on! :-)
Campione, you recruited a gun nut speaker who has tires to racist and anti-Semitic groups, so you are a fellow traveler. You did so after being warned. ypu seem to reject any criticism as Alinsky-inspired, when in fact those are the tactics you use. And incidentally, there is no need to isolate and polarize you. You've done a good job of that on your own.
Any tiny shred of credibility Campione may have had vanished at the hint of "I can't be a racist, my moms black"..
Tea Bagger stupidity at it's predictable level....
Gotta love the Tea Party stooges.
I say keep voting them in and we will then learn our lesson to never vote for these people again.
Guns, good! Dogs, bad!
Not much paranoia by those who think they need to pack to protect themselves from kids playing in a park, eh?
Exactly. These people that need to carry handguns are completely paranoid of everything - of people out to harm them, of government, etc. They are scared pussies. Buy a dog you friggin wusses.
His mom was black, well OK then.
He toped me, I only shook a black mans hand once.
"They have a book they carry around,"Rules for Radicals"? Really? Is that like carrying around Mao's "little Red Book" for commies.
Wow, what a bunch of loons.
Well you could defend yourself from a rabid animal or a potential attacker, ya know, lots of times weirdos attack joggers or hikers at parks.
Man, you gun freaks are sniveling wimps. Stop being afraid your whole life.
Actually... Bethlehem Township has had issues in its parks and bike path park related to assaults, near rapes and drug transactions. Allowing firearms in the park would be a good thing at least in that bike path park.
Back these claims up with links, please.
Holy shit, that that Tea Party asshole just pull an "Alinsky"?
Bwahahahahahahaa
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