Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter expressed indignant outrage this past Monday regarding the case of Jorge Aldea, a man with a lengthy criminal record, including arrests for attempted murder and assault. Aldea was released on reduced bail mere hours before a warrant was issued for his arrest as the main suspect in yet another murder. Depending on who you ask, this murderous thugs release was the fault of the DA's Office if you ask the Police, and the fault of the Police if you ask the Office of the District Attorney Seth Williams.
Today we learned of a man John Gassew, who was arrested no less the 44 times for crimes including armed robbery was finally sentenced to a 30 plus year term in prison for his crimes, only because Federal Prosecutors took interest in him after a 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer investigation on the violent crime problem in Philadelphia focused a spotlight on Gassew.
Career Violent Criminal Finally Dealt with!
The 2008 investigation by the Inquirer highlighted a pervasive problem that law abiding gun owners have been pointing out for years. In the vast majority of cases, gun possession by criminals are plead out to secure a quick conviction and notch another victory in the personal file of the Prosecutor, or are never even tried. In fact, in Philadelphia, two thirds of all violent criminal defendants walked scott free from all charges! The report further pointed out that although Philadelphia has the highest violent crime rate of any City in America, it simultaneously has the lowest violent crime conviction rate.
Three people are primarily responsible for this situation as it exists today. Mayor Nutter, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and District Attorney Seth Williams. Nutter ( a proud member of MAIG) for not demanding accountability from Ramsey and Williams, in favor of clamoring for the illegal enactment by City Council of gun laws in the City that effect only law abiding Citizens and that they have no authority to enact because they are pre empted by the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act.
Commissioner Ramsey is equally guilty of the same acts, including putting in an appearance on Capitol Hill more then a month ago, advocating for stricter gun laws, under false pretenses, by continuing to lie about the non existent " Florida Loophole " that is a reciprocity agreement that the State of Pennsylvania legally recognizes carry permits issued by Florida, a State which incidentally has stricter requirements to obtain a carry permit then Pennsylvania does.
Finally, District Attorney Seth Williams was much more interested in retroactively pursuing charges against a Delaware Valley man, Mark Fiorino; who recorded several Philadelphia Police Officers abusing their authority and displaying gross ignorance of the very laws they are charged with upholding when they accosted Fiorino on a public street for lawfully carrying his sidearm in a manner they didn't like.
After being held at gun point, forced to the ground, and detained in handcuffs for nearly an hour, Fiorino was released from the scene after Officers determined he had not violated any law, he later posted his legal recording of the Officers actions to Youtube and area Pro Second Amendment Forums such as The Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Assoc. It was only after several months of the recording going viral on the internet that Seth Williams or one of his underlings decided that charges were warranted after all. Clearly a retaliatory move, a blatant abuse of authority and power designed solely to punish Fiorino and send a warning to any other Citizen that dared to contemplate or attempt to expose the gross incompetence that is endemic in what masquerades as a " Justice System " in Philadelphia.
Here's what the Philadelphia Police Departments Chief of Detectives wrote to the Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the institutionalized blind eye turned on violent criminals.
"We have to stop pointing the finger everywhere but at the very people who prey on us each day. Over time we have allowed our value system to erode. We refuse to hold people accountable for their actions and constantly make excuses for their inexcusable behavior. The incessant cry for tougher gun laws is a good example. Until we're ready to strictly enforce the current laws there is no reason for tougher ones.
Yes, there is a need to work on the social ills at the core of much of the unrest, but that does not mean we should accept those ills as a reason to excuse the behavior. Those engaged in this violent lifestyle know exactly what they're doing. They also know it is wrong. And they also know there are no serious consequences for their actions. It's not a matter of not knowing right from wrong, it's a matter of weighing the risk. And today they face very little risk.
Time after time these budding killers are arrested with guns, only to be returned to the streets with a slap on the wrist. Is it any wonder we have trouble getting witnesses to speak up? Instead of holding vigils at murder scenes, groups like Men United for a Better Philadelphia and Mothers in Charge should throw a ring around the Criminal In-Justice Center and demand that our judges hold the criminals accountable.
More than 80 percent of Philadelphia's cold-blooded killers have criminal records. Most of those records are lengthy, many for violent crimes. Every one of those arrests represents an opportunity to send a clear message, before they take another life. "
Joseph Fox Chief of Detectives Philadelphia Police Department Philadelphia
Yet to listen to the various Anti Gun Groups and their assorted enablers, the problem is the alleged "easiness" with which someone can get a gun, not a Court and Criminal Justice System obviously broken and overly politicized, with those in the best position to crack down on criminals and be proactive in supporting policies that actually have been shown time and again to be effective, such as mandatory sentencing laws; more interested in pursuing press conferences that fuel their future political ambitions. It is the most crass and immoral of acts, knowingly permitting a system to exist that apparently condones the sacrifice of an arbitrary number of innocent citizens in furtherance of a political ideology for personal gain.
More articles, commentary and information by Dan Robert available at That Every Man Be Armed.com