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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Jesse White |
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White addresses Second Amendment rally
HARRISBURG, April 21 – State Rep. Jesse White, D-Allegheny/Beaver/Washington, spoke at the fourth annual Right to Bear Arms rally today. He urged all sides to work together on the issue of gun violence but came down firmly on the side of law-abiding citizens who own firearms.
White told the several hundred people who packed the Capitol Rotunda, "Instead of demonizing gun owners and sportsmen, we need to work together to make sure that people are educated and informed about the rights and responsibilities of all Pennsylvanians to keep and bear arms.
"People need to know that gun ownership itself is not a crime; hunting is not a crime, and the people who own guns should never be treated as criminals for simply exercising their legal rights. We understand the law, we respect the law, and we should never be confused with those who would knowingly break the law," White said.
On Sunday, Gov. Rendell said he would support a reinstitution on the ban of the sale of assault rifles and advocated that local governments in Pennsylvania should have the final say on gun possession within their boundaries.
However, White and other speakers at today's rally asserted that the greatest problem is inadequate enforcement of existing firearms laws, rather than the creation of new ones. Proposed new gun laws may sound good to some, but they would have no effect on criminals who don't follow laws anyway, while greatly infringing on the rights of lawful gun owners, White said.