Editorial for April 10, 2008 edition:


Dennis the Menace

After what state House Speaker Dennis M. O’Brien did last week, Democrats who live in the 169th Legislative District — and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the Democratic City Committee chairman — should be giving themselves a good swift kick in the rear. They see what happens when they allow a politician like Mr. O’Brien to go unchecked and run wild in Harrisburg by failing to find even one courageous soul to run against the Republican speaker.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on April Fools’ Day shot down a very reasonable piece of anti-crime legislation that would have required gun owners to inform police when their guns are lost or stolen.
There are 28 state representatives in Philadelphia. All but one, even gun-control foe John Perzel, voted for the measure. Guess who the lone dissenter was?
Dennis O’Brien, poster boy of the National Rifle Association, who complained that the legislation would penalize gun owners who were not aware that their guns were missing. That argument is poppycock, of course, and Mr. O’Brien knows it. Responsible gun owners make it their business to know where their guns are at all times. State law should compel owners of missing guns to be accountable to the police, not lawmakers’ sugar daddies, the NRA.
If Dennis O’Brien thinks he’s God, voters shouldn’t be surprised, because that’s how they treat him. Like terrorized sheep, the Democratic Party sits back every two years and gives the gregarious gentleman from Millbrook a free ride with uncontested re-election bids.
Thanks to the power of the write-in vote, voters in his district should see to it that come the Nov. 4 general election, Mr. O’Brien’s political future follows NRA hero Charlton Heston into the grave. ••

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