Philadelphia Reporter Advocates Loss of 2nd Amendment Rights WITHOUT a Conviction :: 06/07/2012

City scene: Everybody's got a gun

David Gambacorta, Philadelphia Daily News

EVERY NOW and then, you run across a story that brings out the cynic in you, the cynic who shakes his head and mutters, "Only in Philadelphia."

This might be one of those stories.

A handful of warrant cops were out doing their usual thing on May 19 - pounding on doors, chasing down fleeing fugitives - when they came upon two guys who appeared to be urinating in a weed-strewn lot at 18th and Cumberland streets in North Philly.

Turns out the alleged tinkling twosome, Salim Wiggins and Raymond Stewart, were both off-duty Philadelphia Water Department employees.

Oh, and they were packing heat.

Police say Wiggins, 31, stammered, "My bad, officer," and took off running down nearby Cleveland Street.

The cops caught up with him quickly. After a brief struggle, they cuffed Wiggins and found that he was carrying a Smith & Wesson Sigma .40-caliber that had been stolen in 2004, according to law-enforcement records.

He was charged with receiving stolen property, possessing an instrument of crime, weapons violations and public urination.

Stewart, 31, was carrying a .40-caliber Glock 27 that he legally purchased several years ago. He also had a valid permit to carry from Florida, despite the 11 prior arrests - but no convictions - on his record for charges including aggravated assault and drug possession.

Stewart's permit was obtained through the so-called Florida loophole, a policy that's been driving local cops mad for years.

The loophole allows Pennsylvania residents to get a permit through the mail from Florida, where officials check to see only if an applicant has any criminal convictions before issuing a permit.

The Philadelphia Police Department can weigh an applicant's overall background - including arrest history - before deciding whether to issue a permit.

Stewart, who lives in Feltonville, said he figured he wouldn't be able to get a permit in Philly.

"They go by your character [here]. I have arrest charges," he told my colleague Barbara Laker.

"They arrest you for everything and judge you. I haven't been convicted of nothing."