Assault Weapons Ban? Here’s Where Lehigh Valley Lawmakers Stand

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has change of heart, backs ban, as does Representative-Elect Cartwright.

On the hot-button issue of banning semi-automatic assault weapons, one area congressman-elect has come out swinging and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania has had a change of heart. Casey, who just won a second term, told the Philadelphia Inquirer recently that he was haunted by images from the massacre at Newtown where Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother before murdering 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Previously, he had opposed an assault weapons ban, but since Newtown he had decided he would support one as well as a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines. “The power of the weapon, the number of bullets that hit each child, that was so, to me, just so chilling, it haunts me,” Casey said. A Patch …

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Rich Cranium

9:13 am on Monday, March 25, 2013

Wow John was right, pigeon playing chess.   more ›

In Newtown Debate, Put Everything on the Table

All rights – including the Second Amendment – come with caveats.

  In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, the gun control advocates are calling for restrictions on firearms and some on the pro-gun side are citing the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. So here’s the thing: Let’s go with the constitutional framers original intent and allow every American to own a musket. But first, let’s stop pretending that the Bill of Rights grants rights – including gun ownership -- that are absolute. We have free speech, but you can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater. We have freedom of assembly but you’re not allowed to riot. So when gun advocates say they have the right to bear arms, all but the most extreme will acknowledge that like all freedoms in the Bill of Rights, it comes with caveats. For a fascinating look…

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Patch Writer's Mother-in-law Killed in CT School Shootings

Mary Sherlach, mother-in-law of Patch writer Eric Schwartz, was among the 27 people killed in the deadliest school shooting in American history.