On Guns, Buck-Passing Kenney Is A Hypocrite And Coward

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

During his now famous "I'll be happy when I'm not mayor" speech, the buck-passing Mayor Kenney blamed the Second Amendment, the state legislature and the U.S. Supreme Court for the proliferation of guns in Philadelphia.

"If I had the ability to take care of guns I would, but the [state] legislature won't let us, the U.S. Congress won't let us," Kenney whined. "It's crazy. We are the most armed country in world history and we are one of the least safest. Until Americans decide they want to give up the guns and give up the opportunity to get guns we're going to have this problem."

Nice speech, Mr. Mayor. But instead of passing the buck, there is something you can do right now to stop the proliferation of guns on the streets of Philadelphia. And it doesn't require the approval of the U.S. Supreme Court, or Congress, or the state legislature.

You can pick up the phone right now, Mr. Mayor, and order your hand-picked police commissioner to stop the big giveaway that's going on right now over at the Philadelphia Police Department's Gun Permit Unit. That's the place at 660 East Erie Avenue where, over a 18-month period from January 2021 until the end of this past June, they've issued a total of 79,779 new licenses to carry concealed firearms.

Last year, that amounted to a more than 700% increase in new licenses to carry over the previous year. 

It used to take 40 days to get a gun permit in Philadelphia; now it only takes one week. That's because in the middle of an unprecedented epidemic of gun violence, the PPD basically blew out all of the previous local safeguards that had been in place for decades.

The city used to require an applicant seeking a license to carry a concealed weapon to answer all the questions in a three-page questionnaire during a face-to-face interview with a cop. The city also used to require applicants to submit to a background check by a local detective, as well as submit their fingerprints, and proof of residency.

But now that all those previous local safeguards are gone, Mr. Mayor, in your own words, there probably are "a lot of goofballs out there with guns who can get them anytime they want," as in over at your Police Department's Gun Permit Unit. 

During his "I'll be happy when I'm not mayor" speech, Kenney also blamed the shooting of two cops during the city's Fourth of July celebration on "some nitwit . . . who has a gun and probably shouldn't have."

What if that nitwit, Mr. Mayor, just picked up a brand new license to carry over at your Police Department's overly generous Gun Permit Unit?

A spokesperson for the mayor did not respond to a request for comment. 

During his "I'll be happy when I'm not mayor" speech, Kenney said that both the weather and the concert at the July 4th celebration were beautiful.

"But we live in America and we have the Second Amendment, and we have the Supreme Court of the United States telling everybody they can carry a gun whenever they want," Kenney complained.

But according to Mark Zecca, a former senior attorney in the city's law department who used to handle gun legislation for the city, that recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has no impact on Pennsylvania's gun laws.

"Yes, the Supreme Court did strike down the New York State law that required an applicant to have a special reason to be allowed to conceal carry," Zecca wrote in an email. "About six states are reported to have such laws."

"But most states, including Pennsylvania, do not have such laws and allow issuance unless there is a good reason to deny a carry permit," Zecca wrote, "such as showing that the person is likely to be a danger to self or others."

"The Supreme Court did not strike down the type of law that Pennsylvania has which allows and even REQUIRES the Police Commissioner to make a determination of whether the applicant would be a danger to public safety," Zecca wrote.

"Our law allows the City to deny these licenses on this ground and the applicant may then appeal. 
The City has traditionally litigated countless cases like this and the City’s authority under the law has been upheld."

"Philadelphia used to be the leader in Pennsylvania in scrutinizing these permit applicants," Zecca wrote. "This is important because, when a permit is issued to somebody who should not have one, it stops the police from being able to arrest for gun possession and it stops the police from taking the gun."

"Yet, recently, the City has inexplicably and unjustifiably stopped the City’s traditional thorough review and has opened the flood gates for these permits and is issuing them easily," Zecca wrote. 

To Zecca, it makes no sense that Kenney isn't doing something about the big giveaway that's going on right now over at the Gun Permit Unit.

"So, the Mayor is failing to do what he has direct control over, to pull back on sloppy permit issuance," Zecca wrote. "Instead, [Kenney] criticizes a Supreme Court decision that does not even affect Pennsylvania’s law."

"This is hypocritical," Zecca wrote. "The Mayor claims to be concerned about too many guns on the street. If he is concerned, then he should reverse his administration’s new overly lenient gun permit issuance policy."

And why hasn't the mayor done something to limit guns on the streets that's entirely under his control?

Zecca thinks it has something to do with being afraid of the big bad gun lobby.

 
"He [Kenney] and his Law Department should stop being so afraid of being sued by the NRA and should fight to defend the City’s authority under Pennsylvania law to thoroughly review conceal carry applications," Zecca said.

I sent Zecca's remarks to the mayor's press office early this morning for their response, but I haven't received anything from Kenney's faithful spinmeisters. In their defense, they're probably still cleaning up the mess from the other day. 

That's when Kenney seemingly committed political suicide by showing up in front of the TV cameras in his shorts and a soccer jersey and confessing that he didn't want to be mayor any more.

The mayor's spinmeisters didn't respond because they really had no defense. Their only hope is that this story doesn't spread to other media outlets, such as the Inquirer and the TV stations. 

And luckily for Kenney, the reporters and editors at The Daily Democrat, as well as the TVs, are still giving Kenney a pass. 

Despite Kenney's public anti-gun stance, the city under Kenney's "leadership" has a recent history of rolling over for the benefit of gun owners.  

In 2020, the Gun Owners of America [GOA], as well as the Firearms Policy Coalition, sued the city, claiming that because of Covid,  Philadelphia had delayed applications for gun permits way beyond the state's 45 day legal window for approving permits. In some cases, the gun groups charged, the city had made applicants wait up to 18 months to obtain a license to carry a concealed firearm.

But instead of duking it out in court, the city Law Department under Kenney decided to voluntarily roll over for the benefit of gun owners. The city then voluntarily went to a shorter online application, but at the expense of public safety. 

The city's drastic turnaround and permissive new policies regarding the issuance of licenses to carry concealed firearms is potentially a liability problem for the city, Zecca previously told Big Trial. 

But rather than taking action to crack down on guns on the streets, however, Kenney continues to pander and pass along platitudes. Such as the press release he just put out where he tried to explain why he said he'll be happy when he's not mayor.

"As mayor, I feel personally responsible for the well-being of every Philadelphian, and it’s a weight I carry with me every day — every waking moment," Kenney bloviated. "And I know that far too many residents worry daily about their safety and their loved ones too."

More empty words, Mr. Mayor. Instead of giving speeches, why don't you do something about guns on the street?

Your hand-picked police commissioner is just waiting to do your bidding. All you have to do is call. 

But that might take some will power and some leadership ability. 

Both of which you clearly are lacking.