http://www.kypost.com/news/gaguns041000.html
Police beg Patton: Veto bill
By Courtney Kinney, Post staff reporter
Sidebar:
What's changing
Before 1998, the majority of local police departments destroyed guns so they wouldn't go back on the streets, and into the hands of criminals.
House Bill 331's original purpose was to give police the right to destroy confiscated weapons but was amended in the House - by those who took it as a gun-control measure - to take the current law one step further and guarantee that seized guns are sold.
Main story:
Several Northern Kentucky city and police leaders are making a last-ditch appeal to Gov. Paul Patton to veto a bill that could put guns confiscated from criminals back on the streets.
Florence's mayor has already sent a letter to the governor and Covington police will ask the City Commission to do the same, says Lt. Col. Bill Dorsey, spokesman for the department.
''It just doesn't make sense,'' said Florence Chief of Police Tom Kathman. ''We're passin g a law that's taking cigarettes out of the hands of 16-year-olds but we're putting guns back on the streets.''
HB 331, which would require police to auction off weapons within 90 days after they are confiscated, has been passed by the House and Senate and is awaiting Patton's signature.
The governor has 10 days after the close of the legislative session to veto the bill.
Erlanger and Fort Thomas police officials oppose the legislation but haven't taken official action. Newport Police Chief Tom Fromme said he has voiced his opposition through the office of Rep. Jim Callahan, D-Wilder.
The bill would amend a 1998 law that orders police to turn seized firearms over to the Kentucky State Police for auction if the rightful owners can't be traced and if the guns are safe, legal and no longer needed as court evidence. Money raised from the auctions will go to police agencies to buy bulletproof vests.
But local police say it's not an even trade.
''I don't know of a police officer who would want to put one of these weapons in the street just to get a new vest,'' Kathman said.
Florence police, like many others in the state including Lexington and Louisville, until now have been stockpiling the guns, noting that the current law doesn't say when the guns have to be sold.
Covington, Newport, Fort Thomas and Erlanger have all done the same.
Opponents of the bill are concerned that if it becomes law, the hoarded weapons will flood the market, making a large number of cheap guns readily accessible.
Covington alone has between 300 and 500 seized weapons, acquired over several years, Dorsey estimated.
-- 30 --
I wrote the Editor, and cc'd the governor:
What am I missing here?
Quote from the sidebar, "Before 1998, the majority of local police departments destroyed guns so they wouldn't go back on the streets, and into the hands of criminals." Didn't we have the NICS system for instant background checks to prevent just that from happening? If so, just how are the criminals getting all those guns? Were the police selling guns to just anyone, without bothering to check their backgrounds? If so, some major felonies were committed here and they should be prosecuted.
Quoting Florence Chief of Police Tom Kathman. ''We're passing a law that's taking cigarettes out of the hands of 16-year-olds but we're putting guns back on the streets.'' Hello? Same question.
"Opponents of the bill are concerned that if it becomes law, the hoarded weapons will flood the market, making a large number of cheap guns readily accessible."
Accessible to whom? If the buyers are all going through an NICS check, just WHO are these people those opponents are afraid of? Could it possibly be those legally-armed American citizens that have no felony convictions or mental health problems?
Now who are the "gun nuts"?
(I'm using that last now every time I talk about the antis -- maybe we can change the definition.)
The editor's at: postedits@cincypost.com
The gover's at: governor@mail.state.ky.us
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
[This message has been edited by Oatka (edited April 11, 2000).]
Police beg Patton: Veto bill
By Courtney Kinney, Post staff reporter
Sidebar:
What's changing
Before 1998, the majority of local police departments destroyed guns so they wouldn't go back on the streets, and into the hands of criminals.
House Bill 331's original purpose was to give police the right to destroy confiscated weapons but was amended in the House - by those who took it as a gun-control measure - to take the current law one step further and guarantee that seized guns are sold.
Main story:
Several Northern Kentucky city and police leaders are making a last-ditch appeal to Gov. Paul Patton to veto a bill that could put guns confiscated from criminals back on the streets.
Florence's mayor has already sent a letter to the governor and Covington police will ask the City Commission to do the same, says Lt. Col. Bill Dorsey, spokesman for the department.
''It just doesn't make sense,'' said Florence Chief of Police Tom Kathman. ''We're passin g a law that's taking cigarettes out of the hands of 16-year-olds but we're putting guns back on the streets.''
HB 331, which would require police to auction off weapons within 90 days after they are confiscated, has been passed by the House and Senate and is awaiting Patton's signature.
The governor has 10 days after the close of the legislative session to veto the bill.
Erlanger and Fort Thomas police officials oppose the legislation but haven't taken official action. Newport Police Chief Tom Fromme said he has voiced his opposition through the office of Rep. Jim Callahan, D-Wilder.
The bill would amend a 1998 law that orders police to turn seized firearms over to the Kentucky State Police for auction if the rightful owners can't be traced and if the guns are safe, legal and no longer needed as court evidence. Money raised from the auctions will go to police agencies to buy bulletproof vests.
But local police say it's not an even trade.
''I don't know of a police officer who would want to put one of these weapons in the street just to get a new vest,'' Kathman said.
Florence police, like many others in the state including Lexington and Louisville, until now have been stockpiling the guns, noting that the current law doesn't say when the guns have to be sold.
Covington, Newport, Fort Thomas and Erlanger have all done the same.
Opponents of the bill are concerned that if it becomes law, the hoarded weapons will flood the market, making a large number of cheap guns readily accessible.
Covington alone has between 300 and 500 seized weapons, acquired over several years, Dorsey estimated.
-- 30 --
I wrote the Editor, and cc'd the governor:
What am I missing here?
Quote from the sidebar, "Before 1998, the majority of local police departments destroyed guns so they wouldn't go back on the streets, and into the hands of criminals." Didn't we have the NICS system for instant background checks to prevent just that from happening? If so, just how are the criminals getting all those guns? Were the police selling guns to just anyone, without bothering to check their backgrounds? If so, some major felonies were committed here and they should be prosecuted.
Quoting Florence Chief of Police Tom Kathman. ''We're passing a law that's taking cigarettes out of the hands of 16-year-olds but we're putting guns back on the streets.'' Hello? Same question.
"Opponents of the bill are concerned that if it becomes law, the hoarded weapons will flood the market, making a large number of cheap guns readily accessible."
Accessible to whom? If the buyers are all going through an NICS check, just WHO are these people those opponents are afraid of? Could it possibly be those legally-armed American citizens that have no felony convictions or mental health problems?
Now who are the "gun nuts"?
(I'm using that last now every time I talk about the antis -- maybe we can change the definition.)
The editor's at: postedits@cincypost.com
The gover's at: governor@mail.state.ky.us
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
[This message has been edited by Oatka (edited April 11, 2000).]
