'Cultural genocide' sparks anger

The gun-gap between city and state lawmakers seems a tad wider after recent comments labeling Philly gun violence as "cultural genocide."

State Rep. Steve Cappelli, R-Williamsport, tagged it as such during a nationally televised ABC news broadcast July 8.

ABC was reporting on the city's escalating murder rate, efforts to get the Legislature to let the city adopt its own gun laws, and resistance to that from rural lawmakers loyal to the NRA.

Cappelli, a former Williamsport mayor, NRA member, hunter and handgun sportsman with a permit to carry, was asked whether Philly has a problem.

"They are experiencing cultural genocide, to be blunt," he said.

City Councilman Darrell Clarke, who along with Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller is suing the Legislature over lack of action on guns, is troubled by Cappelli's comment.

"I hate to be sensitive," Clarke says, "but my concern is it was racial and cavalier. He implied it's acceptable to continue."

And while genocide, by definition, is a planned, deliberate action, Cappelli says he was only talking about the drug culture and the fact that most of the killing is "minority upon minority."

"I'm not a racist," he says. "I'm not a gun nut. This is not the NRA in me speaking. But I have not seen a specific proposal that would in any way impact the people terrorizing Philadelphia."

Nonetheless, Cappelli says he could support requiring handgun owners to report lost or stolen weapons, one of the bills being pushed by Philly lawmakers.

To which Clarke says, "I'll believe it when I see it." *

- John Baer