Raucous Caucus Walks Out Over Gun Control

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Don't go away mad... just go away (and screw everthing else)...

Raucous Caucus Walks Out Over Gun Control
By: Christopher Lilienthal, AP
12/06/2007

Harrisburg - Sixteen members of the state House's Legislative Black Caucus walked out of session yesterday just as a vote was to take place on an overhaul of the state's open records law.

The caucus's chairman, Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, D-Delaware, said after meeting with Democrat leaders that they wanted to kick-start a dialogue over stalled gun-control measures, and that the move had nothing to do with the open records bill.


"We believe that the community and the taxpayers have a right to open records," Mr. Kirkland said. "We're not walking out on open records. What we're saying is priorities. We believe that when we have to walk by an open casket, day in and day out, our priority is to make sure that guns are taken off the streets and out of the hands of criminals, and then we can move to some kind of conversation about open records."

Mr. Kirkland said the 16 members who requested leave for the day did not plan to return to the House floor today.

Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, emerged from the meeting with the caucus members a half-hour before Mr. Kirkland and other Black Caucus members did, and said he was going to try to restart debate on the open records bill.

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[mainegreen]

1. "and out of the hands of criminals"

k

[dmallind]

2. Why do I get the feeling

...they weren't looking to disarm ONLY criminals...

[mainegreen]

3. Intuition, perhaps?