Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
by: James Stoker
On September 25th, 2024, Lisha Tichenor (Mihalko), Bob Canova, Kevin Jackson and I all piled into Bob’s faithful mini-van and headed to Sewickley for the Keep Kids Safe roundtable event hosted by Ceasefire Pa. We hadn’t registered for the event but planned to peacefully attend and hear what the opposition had to say about their proposed methods of making our schools a safer place for our children. I am always open to discussion, and why wouldn’t we engage in a civil discourse trying to solve problems in our communities?
They relocated their event shortly before the scheduled time. So shortly before, in fact, that even State Representative Venkat went to the wrong place prior to being brought up to speed on the new “hidden” location. We were able to find the relocated meeting, however, despite the last-minute shenanigans. I can’t help but wonder, if the relocation had anything to do with my email to the membership indicating our intentions to attend, but that is something we will never know.
Upon entering the event, after ringing a buzzer at the locked doors of St. Brendan’s Episcopal Church on McAleer Road in Sewickley, we were greeted politely by a woman who was pleasant enough, even if she did express a disliking of our FOAC logoed attire. The host made eye contact with me, and I could see she recognized us, but we quietly found a table and took our seats.
Once the representative arrived, the “panel” introduced themselves to everyone in the room. We listened intently, taking notes to address points, and noticing the WTAE news cameras repositioning to take us out of the picture. Our crew was courteous and attentive, no criticizing or drama at all, simply taking in the conversation as each speaker identified their experiences, goals, and issues in their own words.
It is of note that a lot of the discussion was not about the schools themselves, but about the neighborhoods and communities around them. Very little firearms education, and very little firsthand experience with violence or suicide, though a lot of discussion of lives impacted by both. Several of the speakers seemed less concerned about gun control issues and more concerned about consequences for the violent offenders, which I admit surprised me some. We took notes, and after all the speakers had engaged, I raised my hand and asked for permission to discuss some of the topics.
I tried to acknowledge their feelings of safety, but questioned how their support of extreme risk protection orders or universal background checks would change the landscape of most of their stories of violence or loss. Made sure to address Rep. Venkat’s point on the so called “ghost gun bill” which is nothing but an attack on privately manufactured firearms, by informing them that in one hundred years of the PSP keeping records of sale, they THINK they MAY have HELPED in resolving four criminal cases. Pointed out that both New York and Maryland had abandoned fifteen-million-dollar projects recording serial numbers and ballistics tests because in over a decade of work neither had solved a single crime. Expressed my concern that a chief of police would speak in favor of officers enforcing mandatory storage laws and challenged their statistically twisted statement of firearms being the leading cause of death for children.
THAT is what apparently pushed the envelope too far. Pointing out that they’ve introduced criminal information to misinform the public, and that the education system and government have both surrendered credibility to be trusted with the mental health of our children, was offensive to them. To the point that a so-called pediatrician accused me of “speaking nonsense”, though unable to refute the fact that the U.S. Department of Education’s “school shooting” statistics were found to be over 95% lies, as fact-checked by NPR of all organizations. When the left leaning National Public Radio calls you out for lying about gun control, that should resonate with us all.
Unfortunately, at that point, the host Beth Floringer, decided I’d had my three minutes of fame, and talked over me stating it was time to move on. I asked for one more minute to address how money wasted on futile gun control bills could be better used supporting mental health programs or youth initiatives as mentioned by a pastor in the group, but she insisted on speaking over me to silence me.
I accepted it at that point. This was not our event, and I would not have the news media present using that to paint us as rude event crashers or lunatics attacking the panel, so I accepted being shut off. Most of our points were made, and those who were open to civil discourse would have some things to think about. The rest? They were never open to the truth or focusing on real strategies to keep kids safe anyway.
We stuck around and engaged a few different panelists on topics after the meeting ended. We found some common ground with the pastor who wants more accountability for crime, and nothing to do with mandatory storage laws. Common ground with a local police department’s social worker who expressed a willingness to carry on the discussion to find solutions in the community. And even a little common ground with Ms. Floringer, whom Kevin Jackson and I spoke with, finding we both want better services for mental health and for the youth, and of course disagreeing on mandatory storage. I politely informed her we did not come to stir trouble, and I did not appreciate being cut off, but that we accepted that out of respect for her being host of the event, and requested she bear that in mind for the next panel discussion.
After the event, on our way back home, I emailed Rep. Venkat and offered to meet him at his office to discuss ways to approach the mental health and violence issues. At 6am the next morning, he responded encouraging me to make an appointment with his chief of staff. I also emailed Beth Floringer at Ceasefire and asked to be considered for their panel. My decades of experience in law enforcement have left me with a lot of firsthand experience in violence, suicide, and the mental health system as it stands in Pennsylvania. That offer has gone unanswered as of yet, ten days later…
On WTAE news that night, there was no mention of our presence at the event. All film footage made sure to cut us out of the picture, and the people of Pittsburgh were presented with a biased news story presenting the picture that there was only one side to the story at this event. Disappointing, but it’s fair to say that we expected nothing more from that aspect of the media as present.
What’s next? I’ll keep an eye out for their next event. Maybe take a few more members with us. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll hear back about participating in the panel. Don’t laugh at me, I’m a positive thinker. And I’ll meet with Rep. Venkat, and query his experience as a trauma doctor about the mental health system in Pennsylvania and what we can do to make it better without questioning the citizens right to keep and bear arms in defense of ourselves and the state…