Is It Time to Ban Guns in Public Parks?

Last year, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney banned the possession of firearms and other deadly weapons at city parks. This ban was quickly overturned on the basis that state law preempts any municipal gun-control measure. Now, State Senator Vincent Hughes has introduced legislation (SB 53) that will ban the possession of firearms and other deadly weapons in public recreation areas. Identical legislation has also been proposed in the state House. 

Hughes states his bill mirrors "current provisions of law which prohibit the possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapons in court facilities and on school property ... ." If enacted, it would be a crime to possesses a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a public recreation area, defined as a park, recreation center or pool owned or operated by a political subdivision."

This bill has 13 sponsors, none of whom are state senators from the Lehigh Valley. It has been referred to the state judiciary committee, where it will  likely die a slow death. 

That's too bad.

No right, not even a constitutional right, is absolute.  

Given the increased incidence of mass shootings, which have included shootings at public parks, it's hard to argue that government's substantial interest in providing for the safety of those who visit parks  are outweighed by an individual's fear that he needs a weapon for self-defense against rambunctious kids.   

In fact, the legislature should ban the possession of firearms at municipal meetings. 

The Grey Gods and Exploding Targets

Last week, I told you that a Pennsylvania State Trooper is the person who was responsible for a series of three explosions in Upper Mount Bethel Township on March 18. He confessed that he was responsible the next day, and said it would never happen again. Upper Mount Bethel Chair John Bermingham has acknowledged on his Facebook page that someone confessed, and that someone is a state trooper. I reached out to this trooper, but he never returned my call. Instead, I received comments that attempt to trivialize what had happened, like "He didn't break any laws, moron." This matter was initially reported to the state police. They had "no information" concerning it. Yet across the river, in New Jersey, the Blairstown Police Department strangely knew all about it, calling it a series of "three controlled explosions" in Upper Mount Bethel. Nothing to see here. Move along.

A Northampton County Grand Jury has condemned a state police policy that allows it to investigate itself. Its 4,000 troopers are "not above the law," at least in Northampton County. The grey gods, as they are sometimes called, even attempted unsuccessfully to shut down a grand jury that criticized their arrogance. This opinion is shared by numerous local officers. They do acknowledge that the state police have superior resources.

What happened in Upper Mount Bethel on March 18 was three uncontrolled explosions that scared people to death and did shatter a few windows. Things could have turned out far worse.

"It was like nothing I ever heard," one resident tells me. The first explosion rattled resident's windows and popped ears. The third, and biggest explosion "sounded like a 747 landing on the house. We thought something hit our house."

This was all the handiwork of Trooper Daniel Jones, who admitted his involvement to township officials. He is described by some as arrogant. It is said that when he starts drinking, he likes to shoot. Nice combination. I gave him ample opportunity to respond to me and give me his side of the story. He never did. But he apparently is telling others that he was training.

I am aware of no law enforcement agency that uses exploding targets.

Under Pennsylvania law, a person is guilty of the third degree felony of risking a catastrophe if he creates a risk of catastrophe through the use of explosives. Given that 30 pounds of tannerite (a binary explosive) ere used, this person created the risk of setting off a fire that could have spread to people's homes.

Wildfire Today has documented several instances in which exploding targets have caused fires and injured or killed firefighters and others.

In Pennsylvania, State Rep. Dom Costa, Pittsburgh's former police chief, has authored a bill to ban the possession, transportation, and sale of exploding targets. He notes that the residue of binary explosives has been found at terrorist bomb sites. An FBI memo warns that "…exploding targets can easily be converted into improvised explosive devices (known as IED's)."

They've been banned in Maryland.

The NRA lists exploding targets as one of the seven ways children can have fun at the firing range. "These are on the top of the 'fun' list. The resounding 'BOOM' and puff of smoke is fun to see, hear and smell.

Allentown Tables Lost and Stolen Gun Ordinance

The Lehigh Valley Tea Party, or at least about 10 of them, invaded Allentown City Council last night. They were there to oppose Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski's attempt to reinstate a City ordinance that would require gun owners to report stolen or lost guns within 48 hours, or suffer sanctions. He was absent from the meeting himself, but a memo submitted in advance of the meeting argued that "[i]t is critical that the elected leaders of Pennsylvania’s third largest city demonstrate its commitment to curbing gun violence." The memo called this law a "priority" matter. Well, it's a priority matter that was tabled. Indefinitely.

Tom Campione, Chair of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party, called on Council to "stop bullying lawful gun owners," claiming it criminalizes lawful gun owners who themselves are victims of theft. He also argued that this bill is pre-empted by the Uniform Firearms Act, which gives state government the sole arbiter of firearms laws.

Campione could have stayed home. In fact, he probably hurt his cause. He had people cart in signs, which are OK at Trump rallies but are not permitted in City Council chambers. Roger MacLean, Allentown's former police chief, also made it clear that he resented being called a bully, especially since he was not on Council the first time this ordinance was adopted. But he also noted that Council has opinions from an assistant City Solicitor and DA Jim Martin, advising Council to reject the ordinance. So MacLean moved to table the ordinance.

"As far as I'm concerned, it can be tabled permanently," he said, to tea party applause.

Candida Affa, herself a gun owner, supports the bill. "I believe that our country is going downhill, and a lot of it has to do with [fire]arms." So she is willing to follow Fed Ed in defiance of her own Solicitor and the DA.

Daryl Hendricks, a former Allentown cop, prefers to follow the advice of the DA and City lawyers over that of someone who himself is the subject of a criminal investigation.

Henricks and MacLean voted to table over Affa's objection, and that ends the matter.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto has also vowed to introduce a similar law.

Blogger's Note: This report is based on a video of the meeting.

Panto Gun Proposal Pre-Empted

Easton Mayor Sal Panto has proposed a gun ban at city parks and city hall. This move comes after the state's Supreme Court invalidated a law that allows gun groups or any persons "adversely affected" by local gun control laws to sue. But state law still preempts any local regulation of firearms.

"No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth."

I completely agree that no person should be allowed to bring a weapon into a government building or city park. The Ross Township massacre proves that it is all-too-easy for a mentally disturbed individual to go to a public meeting and blast away. But this change has to come from the state, nit Easton City Hall. So Panto's proposal will be rejected just as quickly as the law giving gun owners the right to sue.

Easton Gay Activist Earl Ball - "We Will Continue to Dance"

Earl Ball and Timothy Hare

Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, 29, killed 50 people and wounded another 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Saturday in what is being called the worst mass shooting slaughter in the last 34 years. In a call to 911 shortly before the rampage, the gunman swore allegiance to the Islamic State. But if his intention was to strike fear into the hearts of the gay community, the would be terrorist failed.  "We will continue to dance," said Easton activist Earl Ball during a vigil attended by close to 70 people last night at Easton's Centre Square, as darkness began to fall.  "We're going to continue to dance and live our lives freely."

Ball and his husband, Timothy Hare, were supposed to visit New York City yesterday to celebrate Hare's birthday. They decided instead to organize a Centre Square remembrance.

We are shocked by this morning's mass murder at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Now we are all Orlandoians in our hearts. 

Let us join hands in the circle, sharing our heartfelt pulse of love to those that lost their lives and those grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Without speeches or microphones, we'll stand together in compassionate silence. Siimply put, there are no words.

Ball and Hare said they called for this vigil because they needed the community support, and they got it. Nobody minded being photographed together.  

"It's our 9-11," said Hare.

One gay young man, accompanied by his father, was until recently a resident of the Orlando area. He was a visitor at Pulse, the popular gay nightclub where the attack occurred.

He is still waiting to hear from some of his friends in the Orlando community. 

Mateen used an AR-15, which does look very much like the M-16 used by the US military, and has become the mass shooter's weapon of choice, according to The Washington Post. Ball and Hare used love, and bestowed kisses and hugs on their friends. Hare and Ball were gratified by the warm response from the Easton Community.

Across the street, watching the vigil from a safe distance with their arms crossed, were five Easton police officers. Their numbers grew to seven at one point.

I waved and said Hi, but there was no reaction. They were either unable to hear, in a bad mood, or were afraid that homosexuality might be contagious.

The City of Orlando is listing the victims by name, but only after family is notified.

+Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia, calls the crime "horrific. ... As Christians, our duty is to pray for those whose lives were ended by the inexcusable cruelty of others and to ask God to pour his comforting grace upon all those who are in mourning."

(Updated: Originally published 6/12 at 2:50 pm, prior to the event.)

Tea Party Declares Open Season on Bethlehem Tp Parks Gun Ban

This Spring, Bethlehem Township's municipal parks will be a place for the local Athletic Association, known as the Bulldogs,to host baseball, softball and soccer games. But it will also be a place to sport a 454 Raging Bull revolver. Resident Glenn Krier, who is with the Second Amendment Committee of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party, warned Commissioners that "[y]ou'll probably see people walking through the parks, carrying firearms."

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?

Tighter Gun Control Measures Needed For Mentally Ill

Under Pennsylvania law, it is practically impossible to deny not just gun ownership, but a license to carry, unless that person has been committed. That leaves a lot of mentally ill people out there who have access to firearms. After the Isla Vista shootings this weekend, which left seven people dead and thirteen people wounded, it's time to start insisting that our state and federal legislators start listening to us instead of the NRA, even if that gun lobby does contribute heavily to their campaigns. In fact, it's time that the NRA start listening to us instead of the gun manufacturers who fill their coffers.

I need a prescription for antibiotics, but can buy all the ammo I want. Something's wrong there.

Guns may not kill people, but cRaZy people with guns do. Before anyone is permitted to own a gun, he should be forced to undergo a mental health evaluation. That should be updated every five years. If a person observes irrational behavior by a person who bears arms, he should be able to petition for seizure of that person's weapons until an evaluation is performed. If the complaining party is wrong, he should be required to pay for the evaluation.

I respect that you may feel safer with a gun. But the rest of us will feel safer if we we know you're not nutz.

Also, no one should be able to carry in any government building. Right now, our state law is impotent to prevent lunatics from barging into town halls with weapons. That needs to change.

We Need Real Background Checks

Just last month, a mentally ill man in nearby Ross Township loaded a rented car with guns and ammo, and began firing away during a municipal meeting. Three dead were not enough. "I wish I killed more of them," he said as he was taken away.

Yesterday, a mentally deranged man who had all kinds of clearances was able to gun down a dozen people before he himself was stopped.

Anybody see a common theme here?

Bans on so-called assault weapons and magazine clips mean very little if we are arming lunatics. Even the most strident gun rights advocates tend to agree with me on this point.

LV Tea Party Takes PrattFall, Embraces "False Patriot"

In the wake of the senseless shooting of three innocent people at a Ross Township Supervisors' meeting, the LV Tea Party has decided it's time that area lawmakers and the police community meet the fun lovin' gun nut community. In a move completely insensitive to the local victims of that shooting, they're bringing in perhaps the biggest gun nut in this country. Wayne LaPierre? Nah, nothing so tame as the NRA, especially someone whose name is so ... French. Instead, it's Gun Owners of America (GOA) founder Larry Pratt. He's the headliner for their October 11 meeting. They expect to pack the house.

What's more, they are summoning all Lehigh Valley area PA lawmakers, Northampton County Council, Lehigh County Comm'rs, both Sheriffs, both DAs, and the Mayors and Police Chiefs of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.

Pratt, incidentally, has been designated as a "false patriot" by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Larry Pratt, a gun rights absolutist whose Gun Owners of America (GOA) has been described as "eight lanes to the right" of the National Rifle Association, may well be the person who brought the concept of citizen militias to the radical right.

In 1990, Pratt wrote a book, Armed People Victorious, based on his study of "citizen defense patrols" used in Guatemala and the Philippines against Communist rebels — patrols that came to be known as death squads for their murderous brutality.

Picturing these groups in rosy terms, Pratt advocated similar militias in the United States — an idea that finally caught on when he was invited for a meeting of 160 extremists, including many famous white supremacists, in 1992.

It was at that meeting, hosted in Colorado by white supremacist minister Pete Peters, that the contours of the militia movement were laid out.

Pratt, whose GOA has grown since its 1975 founding to some 150,000 members today, hit the headlines in a big way when his associations with Peters and other professional racists were revealed, convincing arch-conservative Pat Buchanan to eject him as a national co-chair of Buchanan's 1996 presidential campaign.

The same year, it emerged that Pratt was a contributing editor to a periodical of the anti-Semitic United Sovereigns of America, and that his GOA had donated money to a white supremacist attorney's group.

Pratt is today close to the extremist Constitution Party and its radical theology.

According to Rational Wiki, he's also the founder of English First (an English-only movement organization), U.S. Border Patrol (an anti-immigration group), and Committee to Protect the Family (an anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage organization).

Denying he's a racist, Pratt claims he's a rock star. He recently worried that civil rights charges against George Zimmerman would just “intimidate the rest of the country so that we don’t think about defending ourselves” against “attacks by black mobs on white individuals.”

Don't know about you, but that sure sounds racist to me.

This disturbs me. I visited the Tea Party several times in the past and found that, though the members are perhaps whiter and older than the rest of the Lehigh Valley, they are basically decent people. Many of them were downright friendly. But bringing in a racist lunatic like Pratt, while inviting local leaders to see it, is evidence that they've become far too extreme.

My guess is that no Sheriff, DA, County legislator or Mayor will darken their door.

Our Country Was Not Founded By Men With Guns and Buckets of Shit

Rick Fisher

Last year, I met Rick Fisher at a heavily attended Bangor Borough meeting, when three volunteer fire companies were on the war path, ready to scalp its Council members. Rick was Bangor's zoning officer, but also did code enforcement in other Slate Belt municipalities like Upper Mount Bethel and Portland. He was giving it all up that night to move West and become a male stripper or bottom-feeding blogger.

"I thought all the people were here to say goodbye to me," he said when firefighters left before the announcement of his impending departure. "I forgot. I'm a zoning officer," he joked.

Today, that's more sad than funny. Ross Township's zoning officer is dead. He died in a hail of bullets after dispossessed property owner Rockne Newell allegedly shoot through the walls of a municipal building during a supervisors' meeting. Two innocent citizens participating in their government by attending a meeting were killed, too. Three others were wounded.

Most of us reacted with horror to this tragedy. But not West Easton troublemaker and Borough Council candidate Tricia Mezzacappa. She instead penned a letter to The Express Times, portraying Newell as a victim of government tyranny, just like her. "I thank the Lord that I have had the patience to continue putting up with this tyranny," she writes, certainly hinting that might one day ran out of patience and who knows what will happen then.

It's a disgusting letter, but many of the numerous comments that follow online actually support her view. Frequent commenters there, like "Amend Wun" and "Tag42Day" believe that's because Mezzacappa was creating all kinds of bogus online identities to pretend she has support that she lacks. I tend to agree with this assessment because many of those comments also trash Mezzacappa's enemies, i.e. West Easton Boro Council Prez Kelly Gross and yours truly.

Moderators must share this assessment, too. They've been busily deleting many of the names she uses to comment. Not just the comments, but the actual accounts.

But Mezzacappa fooled one person. Rick Fisher. He posted this comment tonight, giving the perspective of a zoning officer in that neck of the woods.

I am shocked that so many people feel there is justification for homicide in our society. In this particular case, these were people who were doing their jobs, enforcing the laws that protect your wells that you drink from, your property values that you cherish, and your safety- whether it be adopting an ordinance that lowers a speed limit or enforcing the Clean Streams Law and Sewage Facilities Act which protects your water supplies, your lakes, rivers, and streams. No one deserves to die for doing their job. These are public servants, regular folk like you and I, most are volunteers who choose to better their community rather than sit on the doorstep and bitch about everything that is wrong with our society.

The zoning officer was a paid public servant. He chose a profession that helps people and protects their safety. He was good at his work and was careful in his decisions. He never wanted to violate a person's rights and so he took care with his decisions and always acted in a professional manner. He did not deserve his fate.

I worked with the zoning officer who was murdered. I sometimes sat at the desk across from him and more than once we drove to sites together to improve our safety. Is there a justification for killing him for doing his job? When two neighbors feud over a property line, a fence, or when one complains that the other has turned his property into a junk yard, and we go there to do our job- is our death OK because we did our job and enforced the law by, in your view, pushing the man too far? The same law that each and every one of you would want enforced if the property filled with buckets of shit was next door to your home? I bet you'd be at every Council meeting screaming to high heaven about how you can't open your windows because of the stench, how there are so many flies, and how you will never be able to sell your home as long as that man is allowed to live on his uninhabitable land.

The author of this letter is wrong wrong wrong. I know most of the people he shot at. I know one of the men who died. Did the Township secretary deserve such a tragedy for simply doing her job, to spend the rest of her life having blood and death in her memory for her long service to the citizens of that township? No, she did not. Nobody deserves to die for simply doing their job. No one deserves to be traumatized.

Rockne wasn't pushed too far. You can't push crazy too far. You just can't. Maybe he would have snapped 6 months later at the diner over his poached eggs. Maybe he would have snapped in a mall, in an Elementary school, in a movie theater, or in a grocery store. This was a man living in shed illegally, with 5-gallon pails of sewage inside and outside his shack, living on land that he knew was uninhabitable when he bought it. It was written on the deed plain as day- failed for onlot sewage disposal. He broke the law when he moved onto that property, he violated one law after another, local, state, and Federal law. He was a lawless man who didn't give a damn about anything but himself. And when his day in court finally came and he lost because he was wrong, he broke the law again- and now three men are dead.

This country was not founded by men with guns and buckets of shit. It was founded on LEGAL principle by men who based their claim for for freedom on law. They then took up arms and fought for a free country where law-abiding citizens could live in harmony. It has worked for over two hundred years.

The sewage laws were written with the understanding that the greater good for all must override the desire of one person. We have standards for sewage disposal in rural areas without city sewers. These standards must be equally enforced for all citizens in order to protect each person (even from themselves).

We talk about our constitution and then ignore it's founding principles when a crackpot attacks our own representative government. It doesn't wash. You can't have it both ways. If you want representative government then you have to allow your representatives to do their job and when they come under fire, to support them afterwards. They are the ones protecting your rights. The guy with the buckets of shit- he is the enemy of our society, a terrorist kicking over yet another pillar of our democracy. And you who speak out in support of him do so because our democracy, our constitution gives you the right of free speech. But with that right comes responsibility to think deeply on what you are going to say or write. Your words of support for a mentally unstable man who killed and injured innocent people and disrupted their lives forever do us all an injustice. Rockne did not shoot the wrong people- he was wrong to shoot at all. He had no right. He is a cold-blooded murderer. Defend him you defend the downfall of our society. You can't push crazy too far- it isn't possible.

Townships Hiring Mezzacappa For Security at Meetings

West Easton wing nut Tricia Mezzacappa likes to complain that no one will hire her. But in the aftermath of the Ross Township shooting, I'm told that LV municipalities are falling all over each other to hire the pistol packin' momma for security at future meetings.

"If confronted with a situation at a meeting where I am forced to discharge my weapon, it goes like this: Deep breath, aim, shoot, one hollow point goes right through his skull, he's dead before he hits the ground, kersplat, PERFECT!“

"When armagedon comes a runnin towards my meeting hall, I stand armed and ready. I picture armegedon about 5 ft 9 and balding, little eyeglasses on the tip of his nose, and enough fat flaps to insulate a bull. Deep breath, aim, shoot, and....one hollow point goes right through his skull, he's dead before he hit the ground, kersplat....PERFECT."

“His head would be blown off instantly, ricocheting at least 400 feet into the air, and landing in one piece, at least 400 ft from his body.

She won't always kill people. Sometimes, she'll just pistol whip "his face bloody and unrecognizable."

She's perfectly nermal. But it's nice to know that when she goes off the reservation, Jim "I left no marks" Gregory is there to reel her back in.

Updated 9:50:  Mezzacappa claims Ross Tp got what they had coming in LTE.

Forget Guns, Give Me Hornet Spray

Officer Barsnica assures me that is his smile

Most of the gun nuts out there can't shoot for shit. Sportsmen and cops will tell you that you need to practice regularly or having a gun won't help you one bit in the event of a crisis. It might even get a loved one killed. But a fellow title searcher told me that there's a solution for one and all. It requires no LTCF. You don't have to buy bullets or even practice. And it will fit right in your holster.

Hornet spray.

Hornet spray shoots about 20-30', more than enough for self defense. Also, it's a spread shot, so accuracy is not so important. And it's very "efficacious," my loquacious title searching amigo assures me. She said that a bad guy nailed with hornet spray has one hour to get to the hospital, or he'll go blind permanently.

The nuns told me something else would make me blind, and I think they're right. I can't see anything anymore.

I asked K-9 Officer Dan Barsnica about sprays last night, right before his partner Castro ate Paul Weiss. Barsnica acknowledged that people do need to train more with firearms than they do, but hornet spray is not the answer. What makes it kill hornets will also kill humans. It's a frickin' nerve agent. Spraying it indiscriminately could kill innocent people.

So what do you use?

Mace. Not pepper spray, but mace, which is legal.

Officer Barsnica does practice, and told me he brings his gun to church because that's just where some lunatic would be likely to strike next.

I agree and that's why I don't go to church.

Besides, I'm blind.

"I'll give you my hornet spray when you pry it from my cold, dead hands."

Cusick: Police Presence at All Local Meetings Might Be Impossible

I have asked local and some state government officials for their reaction to the tragedy in Ross Township. Until I hear from everyone, you might want to know that CCAP, the state association of counties, is discussing this matter during their annual convention this week. Northampton County Council president John Cusick, from Erie, tells me that practical considerations might make it impossible to provide police coverage at every local meeting. "I do not think it would be possible for every local municipality in the Commonwealth to maintain a police presence at all public meetings, " he stated. Williams Township, where he served as a Supervisor, relies on state police. "While I do not think that changing our gun laws can always prevent a highly motivated crazed individual from doing great harm, I believe in and did support the proposed Toomey-Manchin legislation that would have improved background checks to prevent the mentally ill from purchasing and possessing firearms."

Suspended Gun Nut Cop Seeks Donations For Groceries

Suspended Gilberton Police Chief Mark Kessler, whose gun-totin', profanity-laced videos have gone viral on the Internet, has wasted no time holding his hand out for money. The $20,000 per year cop, at GoFundMe, is asking you to "help the Chief [it's a one-cop town, so he's Chief of himself] pay his bills - buy groceries to feed his kids - pay the mortgage etc. It's time to be counted Patriots - He stood up for you now it's time to pony up for him!"

In two days, he's managed to raise $1,970.

He's probably thinking he should get suspended more often.

Among his very first contributors, with $50, is West Easton's Tricia Mezzacappa. She has money for that, but still owes $256 for her disorderly conduct conviction last November.

Kessler last week was "calling on all true Americans , all militia members, all true oath keepers to assemble, be ready to march on a tyrannical county government right here in Schuylkill county Pennsylvania."

He hasn't said exactly when Pottsville goes under seige, but i understand they're all evacuating.

LV Gun Nut Mezzacappa Is There For Chief Kessler

Gilberton was red neck capital of the world last night. Police Chief Mark Kessler was suspended for thirty days, ostensibly for misuse of borough property, i.e. machine guns. But the real reason is his nutty videos, in which a member of law enforcement betrays an incredible bias.

Of course, the gun nuts descended to support Kessler. Some of them, heavily armed, reportedly provided "security" by excluding members of the public.

Never let democracy interfere with the Second Amendment.

Ain't America grand?

They're protecting us from government tyranny, but from the pictures I've seen, they should be a little more worried about cholesterol.

In this security detail was none other than the Queen of Lehigh Valley Gun Nuts, Tricia Mezzacappa, sporting a black pistol.

Her License to Carry Firearms has been revoked, so unless she walked or hitched a ride from West Easton to Gilberton, she broke the law.

Again.

Illegal Gun Charges at Controversial South Side Building

Last month, following a contentious hearing, Bethlehem's Zoning Hearing Board refused to go along with a basement apartment at 311 E. 4th Street, despite the City's own admission that it had mistakenly allowed 4 apartments at the site for years. "If there's a fire in the apartment, people will die," said Zoning Officer Suzanne Borzak.

And that was pretty much that.

A few days after that hearing, owner Richard Smith was charged with harassment. According to Bethlehem police, he grabbed or pushed a building inspector on July 2, when being informed that his apartment building was being condemned.

Now three more people have been arrested at this apartment building on more serious charges. Responding to a fight call, police obtained a warrant after detecting the odor of marijuana. In addition to finding drugs and paraphernalia, police also seized a shotgun with a scratched-off serial number, along with ammunition. Three women living at the building have been charged possession of a firearm with an obliterated manufacturer's number. They are Lauren Gonzalez, age 27, Jamie Cornier-Nadal, age 20, and Angela Rodriguez, age 25.

Mezzacappa Has Another Death Fantasy

I remember when she was happy with just putting hollow point bullets through my skull. She now claims, that, in a life and death situation, she would like to be armed with something that would actually blow my head off.

His head would be blown off instantly, ricocheting at least 400 feet into the air, and landing in one piece, at least 400 ft from his body.

The greatest scenario of all would be if this happenned by chance on the Norco/ Lehigh county border. His fat ass lands in Norco, but his head is found somewhere in the Bethlehem area of Lehigh County. Now we have two prosecutors dueling for a capital murder case. Who gets it??? Its based upon where the death occurred.

Answer, death occurred in Northampton county, because thats where the heart stopped beating, even though his "empty" head was found in Lehigh County. Martin loses out to Morg, and its a defense lawyers dream.

She also claims that on Heritage Day, Attorney Michael Snover "ran down Northampton street like a 40 pound fag because he saw me open carrying my gun."

Mike exercised what is known as common sense. Gotta' love the "fag" comment.

Pistol Packin' Momma Invades Voter Registration Office

She's done it again. On Friday, failed Northampton County Council candidate Tricia Mezzacappa created a stir at a GOP fundraiser by prancing around with a pistol in a holster. Since the Commonwealth's second highest ranking official, Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley, was the featured speaker, state troopers on hand were a tad put out, and persuaded her to check her piece. But there were no state troopers on hand when an armed Mezzacappa decided to invade Northampton County's Register of Elections office on Monday. Once again, she was wearing her pea-shooter in a holster.

I spotted her as she sauntered in.

Although Pennsylvania is an "open carry" state, you need a license to carry firearms if you want to transport a gun, loaded or unloaded, in a vehicle. So eventually, Mezzacappa will be arrested.

But her recent actions, both on Friday and Monday, will likely lead to much needed gun control.

Under state law, it is illegal to bring a weapon inside a courthouse or a "court-related facility." But is the Elections Office a court-related facility? Those workers might be considered "court clerks," in which case they would be covered. They might not. I can see arguments both ways. But that office, which is where the votes are counted, should be completely free of intimidation. How can that be when a candidate is in their face, packin' heat?

Let's use some common sense. Like our school children, government officials are increasingly becoming targets for mentally ill people. That risk is both substantial and real. For that reason, there needs to be a ban on all weapons at any County-owned or leased facility.

What about state preemption, you say? The County has no right to regulate firearms, you'll argue. That is a matter for the state. But I'd respond that the County, and any other local government, has every right to regulate its own property, as Philly recently did by banning all weapons inside its parks.

Some Council members are currently mulling exactly this kind of solution.

Local municipalities should probably review their ordinances and make changes as needed.

It wouldn't hurt if state legislators adopted some changes adopting an outright ban inside any municipal building or facility.

Pistol Packin' Momma Invades GOP Fundraiser

Lt. Governor Jim Cawley was the featured speaker at a luncheon fundraiser on Friday for State Rep. Marcia Hahn at Easton's Hampton Inn. Several state representatives, newly elected Judge Jennifer Sletvold and retention-seeking Judge Emil Giordano attended. So did pistol packin' Tricia Mezzacappa. With a gun in a holster. Yessiree, Bob, she thinks it's completely normal to brandish her piece in front of the second highest ranking official in the Commonwealth.

She was asked to surrender her weapon or leave. She chose the former, but still had a Pa. State Trooper shadow her until the event was over.

I believe Mezzacappa is open carrying because the Sheriff has revoked her license to carry concealed.

While she certainly has the right to prance around with her gun in a holster, she does not have the right to transport her gun in a car. That requires a license.

Under Pennsylvania's Uniform Firearms Act, a "firearm" is defined as follows:

"Any pistol or revolver with a barrel length less than 15 inches, any shotgun with a barrel length less than 18 inches or any rifle with a barrel length less than 16 inches, or any pistol, revolver, rifle or shotgun with an overall length of less than 26 inches. The barrel length of a firearm shall be determined by measuring from the muzzle of the barrel to the face of the closed action, bolt or cylinder, whichever is applicable."

A license is required for "carrying a firearm concealed on or about one's person or in a vehicle throughout this Commonwealth." There are exceptions for hunting and going to the range, but not for political fundraisers.

Morganelli Ends Gun Permit Leak Investigation

NorCo DA John Morganelli

Northampton County DA John Morganelli, at a June 12 news conference, has announced the end of an  investigation into a the leak of a confidential concealed carry gun permit application. Criminal charges have been filed against one Deputy Sheriff. Two others have voluntarily resigned. No other charges will be filed.

This matter arose in late March, when someone anonymously provided Allentown Attorney Richard Orloski with a copy of the gun permit application, considered a confidential record under state law. This application was prepared by West Easton resident Tricia Mezzacappa, a former Republican County Council candidate who finished last in the May 21 Primary. She listed both Orloski and Executive John Stoffa as references, though she knew that neither would support her application.

When the application was leaked to Attorney Orloski, he objected strongly, as did Stoffa.

Neither listed reference had ever been contacted by the Sheriff's office because of the volume of applications.

A subsequent investigation into the leak revealed that Deputy Sheriff Darin Steward copied the application when he was at the Sheriff's Office for a Sunday morning union meeting in early March. He also showed it to Deputy Sheriffs Tom Bachik and Pat Crivellaro, both of whom were aware that Steward intended to leak the matter. Neither made any effort to stop him. According to Morganelli, their behavior was at a minimum a "malfeasance of public office."

The DA decided not to charge them because both have since resigned.

Steward provided the gun permit application to Kelly Gross, a long-time friend, on March 15. Gross, President of West Easton Borough Council, is no friend to Mezzacappa.. Last November, Mezzacappa was convicted of disorderly conduct after an obscenity-laced tirade at the Borough Hall, during which two witnesses testified that she had threatened to drag Gross to the Delaware River and drown her.

Morganelli called Gross a "civilian" and declined to charge her.

Morganelli acknowledged that there is no conclusive evidence establishing just how the application ended up with Attorney Orloski. Both Steward and Gross deny that they supplied the gun permit application to Orloski.

Finally, Morganelli considered charging Mezzacappa for supplying what might be false information on a gun permit application. But since she is herself a victim, he decided against charging her.

Steward has been charged with disseminating information on a gun permit application, a third degree felony, and obstructing justice, a second degree misdemeanor. He faces fines up to $30,000 and up to nine years in jail. He faces termination as a Deputy Sheriff, and has been suspended as a part-time police officer in Upper Nazareth.

Morgsanelli indicated he is willing to consider some form of nontrial diversion for Deputy Steward, under which charges could be dismissed after a period of probation. "Maybe his intentions were good, but the fact is that he is a Deputy Sheriff," the DA concluded.