For Immediate Release Contact: Bryan Miller
May 17, 2006 (856) 371-3038
New ATF Data Shows Growth in Numbers of Pennsylvania Illegal Guns Recovered From Crime in Camden
Ceasefire NJ Points to Weak Pennsylvania Gun Laws as Cause of Bloodshed in New Jersey
Philadelphia: Bryan Miller, Executive Director of Ceasefire NJ, New Jersey’s statewide coalition of groups and individuals devoted to reducing gun violence, appeared this morning with fellow members of the PATH (Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns) Coalition near Lou’s Loans gun shop in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania to decry PA’s weak gun laws and call on legislators in Harrisburg to enact One Handgun A Month legislation currently pending.
Miller said: “So, why is a resident of the Garden State here today? For a simple reason. It is Pennsylvania’s guns that are killing New Jerseyans.”
Miller pointed to the fact that a well-developed handgun purchase regime in New Jersey severely restricts the ability of prohibited purchasers from getting guns legally.
He said: “However, the sad fact is that Philadelphia, with its weak gun laws is so close that illegal gun trafficking networks have developed easily, to move guns from legal sale at gun stores like Lou’s, across the Delaware River bridges to Camden and Trenton and street sale to people who can’t get guns legally. These are the same guns that end up being used to wound, maim and kill in the communities of the Garden State.”
Miller continued: “And, according to recently revealed data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the problem is getting worse. New ATF data shows that Pennsylvania’s share of crime guns recovered in Camden almost doubled from 2000 to 2004. This is frightening information and points to the need for PA to reform its gun laws, for the sake of its own citizens and those of New Jersey.”
Miller closed with: “I know the grief, shock and continual sadness that Illegal Guns can cause. My only brother, FBI Special Agent Mike Miller, was shot and killed in 1994 by a single gunman wielding a concealed assault pistol in a massacre at Washington, DC Metropolitan Police headquarters. The MAC-10 assault gun used to kill Mike and two other peace officers was legally purchased in Texas and then illegally trafficked to DC.”
