Meehan Continues to Stand With Special Interests Over SEPA Families and their Safety

Springfield, PA — Pat Meehan has made clear that he’s only going to look out for special interests who fund his campaign, not the middle class families of southeastern Pennsylvania. While Bryan Lentz has led the fight to eliminate a loophole that allows people accused of violent crimes to carry concealed weapons, Pat Meehan has refused to take a position.  The reason why? Because his campaign contributors and special interests backers are against the bi-partisan public safety measure.
 
 “When it comes to keeping guns out of the hands of folks who have already been accused of violent crimes, Pat Meehan has shown that he’ll side with his special interest campaign contributors instead of the public safety interests of southeastern Pennsylvania families,” said Kevin McTigue, Lentz campaign spokesman.  “While Bryan Lentz has been leading the charge to close a loophole that allows people accused of violent crimes to carry concealed weapons, Pat Meehan has shown that he won’t stand up to protect our families and keep our neighborhoods safe.”
 
BACKGROUND: Bryan Lentz introduced legislation to close a loophole that allows people accused of violent crimes to carry concealed weapons. Lentz’s bill will keep weapons out of the hands of suspected criminals and keep our neighborhoods safe.  [Delaware County Daily Times, 7/9/10]
 
The Philadelphia Inquirer praised Lentz’s bill. State lawmakers should close a gun-law loophole that allows someone who was denied a Pennsylvania license to still carry a weapon if he has a permit from another state. State Rep. Bryan Lentz (D., Delaware) introduced a bill in May that would close a loophole that allows Pennsylvanians to circumvent state law…Florida has issued 3,100 concealed-carry licenses to Pennsylvanians, but state officials there will not provide Pennsylvania officials with their names. That’s incredibly dangerous. Some of the Florida gun-license holders were likely denied licenses in Pennsylvania for good reason.
 
Gun-rights advocates…argued that the loophole is necessary because the permit-application process in Pennsylvania is too strict. But that’s not a fault; it’s a good thing. Nationwide, 60,000 people are killed or wounded each year by handguns. A tougher application process helps to keep those numbers from growing even higher. [Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial, 8/18/10]
 
Meehan has refused to take a postion on the public safety bill. [Delaware County Daily Times, 7/9/10]
 
Meehan is supported by the NRA which opposes the legislation.  The NRA has endorsed and donated to Meehan’s campaign. [Patriot News, 7/08/10; NRA Political Victory Fund, 9/23/10; FEC.gov]

A former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq War veteran, Bryan Lentz currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County. He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and their son Thomas.

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