PoliceLink

May 8, 2008 -- City and state officials called Thursday for Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons, delivering an impassioned plea the day before police were to bury an officer killed on duty by a high-powered rifle.

Mayor Michael Nutter said last weekend's "assassination" of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, who was shot at least five times by a Chinese SKS rifle while responding to a bank robbery, was "truly shocking."

"We all know that he did not stand a chance," said Nutter, speaking at a City Hall news conference. "It's a high-powered rifle that no one should have their hands on."

The comments came about 12 hours after a third suspect, Eric Floyd, was captured in an abandoned rowhouse in southwest Philadelphia. Floyd, 33, was caught following a five-day manhunt after police said an FBI agent received a tip.

Brought to police headquarters in Liczbinski's handcuffs, Floyd was charged with murder, robbery, conspiracy and related offenses. His girlfriend, Tonya Stephens, 37, was found with him and charged with obstructing justice, hindering apprehension and conspiracy.

Another bank robbery suspect, Levon Warner, 38, was arrested Sunday and charged with murder, robbery and conspiracy.

Suspect Howard Cain, 33, was shot to death by police on Saturday during a post-robbery chase. An area mosque has refused a request to hold funeral services for Cain, a Muslim, because of his criminal conduct.

On Thursday, Nutter and Gov. Ed Rendell released a copy of a letter they sent to members of the state's congressional delegation asking for the federal ban on assault weapons to be reinstated. A ban enacted in 1994 was not renewed after lapsing in 2004.

"Passing this legislation will go a long way to protecting those who put their lives on the line every day for us," Rendell and Nutter wrote. "There is no excuse to do otherwise."

Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., who is co-sponsoring legislation to reinstate the ban, said police officers should not face the same types of weapons that U.S. soldiers come up against in Iraq.

"I would like to see that we not only renew but strengthen the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004," Sestak said Thursday.

Rendell also criticized state lawmakers for refusing to pass what he called sensible gun-control measures. He mentioned attending a police memorial ceremony on Monday in Harrisburg, where he said legislators honored officers' service with resolutions even as they refuse to make them safer by passing a law requiring that lost and stolen guns be reported.

"The hypocrisy is rampant," Rendell said.

Officials acknowledged the federal assault weapons ban would not have included the gun that killed Liczbinski, as it came to the U.S. in 1992.

But Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey bristled when told that some gun-rights organizations dispute whether the SKS rifle qualifies as an assault weapon.

The gun inflicts wounds so devastating that it should be considered one, Ramsey said angrily.

"Then add it to the frickin' list!" he said to sustained applause from officials and other police officers at the news conference.

The advocacy group CeaseFirePA has sent letters to Pennsylvania gun dealers asking them to voluntarily refrain from selling the SKS.

Also, the city last month passed several local gun-control ordinances - including a ban on assault rifles - despite a Pennsylvania law giving the state sole power to enact firearms regulations. The National Rifle Association has sued, and the case will be in court next week.

NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said Thursday that the problem is lack of incarceration, not lack of legislation.

"The Philadelphia criminal justice system is a miserable failure and in complete shambles," LaPierre said. "We've got great laws on the books ... if only we would prosecute (criminals) and put them in jail and stop releasing them back to the streets."

Also Thursday, a Harrisburg-area teenager accused of providing a handgun used in the bank robbery was indicted on federal firearms charges. Authorities said Levi Swigart, 19, of Duncannon, traded a stolen gun to a drug trafficker for cocaine base on Jan. 26. Swigart was arrested Sunday by Duncannon police and charged with receiving stolen property and theft by unlawful taking.

rsteade says ...

I wonder what might be accomplished if these do-nothing politicians would put their efforts into solving real problems instead of grandstanding for the media. Let's place the blame for the officers death squarely where it belongs...on the head of the POS who pulled the trigger. Quit trying to blame the firearm!!! I mean really....do we blame the car for a DUI fatality?

 

Amen!  Using a tragic incident for personal agenda is unacceptable.

Once again, liberal Democrats want to use the death of  a police officer to support their own agenda. They ignore that fact that the firearm was used illegally in the first place, and was used by a felon who is not permitted to possess a firearm. Do they really believe that criminals will be stopped by gun laws?  No, I don't think that they believe it, nor do they care. It suits their liberal plank and that is all that matters! 

I bet they bought that AK47 at Walmart. The assault rifle ban stopped all the criminals from having them the last time they tried it too(ROFL). Yea right. Does anyone need a Governor, we don't want Rendell anymore. Oh that's right he is a good friend of Hillary, he is granstanding to get a cabinet position.

Again all three of these men were convicted felons so they should have never had a gun.  Did the laws concerning that stop them?  No!  They still possessed a gun, in this case SKS.  Going by this example, it is obvious that gun laws are futile and only impact law abiders. 

How about arming every able bodied citizen with a gun and give them training?  Then allow them to be able to carry the gun where ever they wished.  I would have a feeling that if someone went into a bank full of armed citizens to rob it instant justice would be served.  Violent crimes would go down.  The taxpayer money spent on court would decrease and everyone could "sleep with their doors open" once more. 

That's great and what are they going to do when they find out that the guy did not buy his gun legally, so it'snot going to effect him.

Here we go again!!! Ugh!

Lets get real, the ban will not help,  crooks do not go by the law they will still get them,  just like a felon cannot get a gun right,  we all know how that works

KSP494 says ...

That's great and what are they going to do when they find out that the guy did not buy his gun legally, so it'snot going to effect him.

Hey, we all know that's not really what this is about, so why go cluttering the argument with facts and logic?  LOL.

This is about banning guns and has nothing to do with "crime control" or the safety of our kids, cops or anyone else.  We know it, they know it.  As for the sheep?  Well, who knows what the masses can be led to believe by politicians looking for a job?

                  What makes them think they know how to make us safer? They don't have a clue. To place the blame on the firearm industry, and the NRA is the most absurd statement anyone with common sense can make. Hey you libtard politician how about laying the blame on the convicted felons that commited the crime, or the sated for releasing them, or the judges, lawyers or parole board. Using this as a way to further their political career is sickening. The 94 gun control bill did not stop or slow crime. BUt that is a statistic that does not influence their agenda so it must be wrong. I'm geting a headache. Ya'll be safe.

Wow, If they had only banned those guns before. That police officer would still be alive. I'm sure that the POS offender would have gladly turned over his illegal weapon to authorities just as they always do. Criminals never use illegal weapon to commit crimes, do they? GIVE ME A BREAK!

These kind of laws only affect the people that follow them. What a waist. I got a law for ya < How about death penalty for anyone who shots a cop to be put into action within 24 hours of capture.... I like that law and it would ave tax payers money !!!!!