Chris,
A "Big" city thing??
I guess that if you HAVE to buy one a month!! 
Senate panel takes opinions on gun billSome say limiting sales in Phila. will help curb violence; others want existing laws enforced.
By Mitch Lipka
Inquirer Staff Writer
Law enforcement officials and gun-control advocates told a Pennsylvania Senate committee yesterday that a bill intended to hinder the so-called straw purchases of handguns - acquisitions of weapons by someone without a criminal record on a criminal's behalf - could help curtail gun violence.
The testimony taken by the Judiciary Committee at Philadelphia's City Hall, the first of four stops statewide, comes as the city's homicide total continues to soar.
"I think the availability of guns is the real problem," Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson testified.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. LeAnna M. Washington (D., Phila.), would limit handgun purchases to one per month per person - eliminating what law enforcement officials call the straw purchase of many handguns at a time, often from suburban gun shops. Typically, those guns are then illegally resold.
One of the most notorious of those shops, Lou's Loan in Upper Darby, had its gun-selling license revoked Monday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said guns sold at Lou's were connected to 441 crimes between 1996 and 2000 and to 178 crimes in 2003.
Gun-owner-rights organizations told the senators a new law was unnecessary, as numerous existing laws that could make a difference are not being enforced. One gun dealer told the panel that shops are not making bulk sales of handguns to individuals.
"This is not happening," Gregory Isabella, vice president of Firing Line Inc. in South Philadelphia, said.
Dealers must keep a log, and whenever a person buys more than one handgun within five days, it must be reported to ATF.
He and others who support less restrictive gun laws told senators that prosecutors should pursue straw purchasers more vigorously.
Many of those who supported the bill urged the panel to expand the bill's reach statewide. Right now, it would apply only to Philadelphia.
Diane Edbril, executive director of CeaseFire PA, told the senators that only 19 of 2,873 licensed gun shops are in Philadelphia, while more than 300 are in the adjacent suburban counties.
Her counterpart in New Jersey, Bryan Miller, said Pennsylvania's gun laws affect neighboring states.
"The laws in Pennsylvania not only enable straw purchasing, they encourage it," he said in an interview. "Pennsylvania's laws encourage the development of illegal gun trafficking."
In written testimony, Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison quoted ATF data that show the percentage of recovered weapons used in crimes in that city that originated from Pennsylvania jumped from 23 percent to 40 percent between 2000 and 2004. Guns originating from New Jersey, which has more restrictive gun laws, accounted for 16 percent in 2004, down from 23 percent.
"As long as there is a free flow of illegal guns across the Delaware River bridges from Pennsylvania, our ability to effectively reduce the gun crime and violence devastating Camden's neighborhoods will be severely diminished," Faison wrote.
There are no gun stores in Camden.
In Philadelphia, anyone who wants a gun can go into all sorts of places to get them illegally, Bilal Qayyum, cochair of Men United for a Better Philadelphia, said.
"You can buy a gun in a barbershop. You can buy a gun in a grocery store," he said. "You can buy guns everywhere in the city of Philadelphia."
Johnson noted that while the number of people killed this year - 235 as of late yesterday - was alarming, the toll could be far higher. About 1,800 people have been shot, he told the panel.
Anything to slow the flow of handguns to the streets would be helpful, he said.
"Do I think the one-gun [bill] is going to stop all this overnight? No, I do not," Johnson said. "I do think it's a major step."
He also suggested it would take time for such a law to have an effect, but he emphasized the need for action.
"Our children are dying on the streets every day," Johnson said.
He also said that a cultural change encouraging people who witness crimes to come forward must be nurtured and that the hero worship of thugs in certain areas must end.
