TO FULLY appreciate state Rep. Dave Levdansky's courage, you have to compare him to House Speaker Dennis O'Brien, who earned his leadership position in part by providing a hiding place for the cowardly lions of the state Legislature.
Levdansky, D-Allegheny,
a sportsman and avid hunter, was the prime sponsor of an amendment to require handgun owners to report, within three days, if their weapons were lost or stolen.
He stood up to withering questioning and attacks from the National Rifle Association and its surrogates in the House to strike a blow for gun-regulation sanity.
His measure, soundly defeated by a vote of 127-76, was backed by law-enforcement agencies, city councils and district attorneys in every region of the state.
Its purpose was to discourage straw purchasers who buy large numbers of handguns for resale to people who can't buy them themselves because of criminal records or other restrictions.
Levdansky and the members of Philadelphia's Harrisburg delegation had little hope of passing the measure. But their end run around the Judiciary Committee forced a vote on the record, thus outing the lawmakers whom gun-control advocates should be targeting in future elections.
The lawmakers never had that to worry about in the past because Dennis "Profile in Courage" O'Brien had always kept all gun-control regulations bottled up in the Judiciary Committee, which he chaired. He ended up with the speaker's job last year. Maybe it was just a coincidence. But we don't think so.
As it turns out, when the votes were recorded and the opponents were finally flushed out, the first name on the list was that of our own Dennis O'Brien, who has distinguished himself as the only lawmaker from the city to vote against the amendment. He was joined by Stephen Barrar, R-Delaware; Paul Clymer, R-Bucks; Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bucks; Robert Godshall, R-Montgomery; Art Hershey, R-Chester; Bob Mensch, R-Montgomery; Scott Petri, R-Bucks, and Thomas J. Quigley, R-Montgomery. *
