Pennsylvania and Gun Control

National Journal tells us that one issue that has yet to come up in the Dem primary, gun control, may well be an issue in the upcoming Pennsylvania debate:

When Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton square off in an April 16 debate in Philadelphia, they may be forced to spend time discussing an issue neither has talked much about in this campaign: gun control. April 16 will mark one year since the murder of 32 students at Virginia Tech, the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence will stage events around the country that day calling for stronger gun regulations, and for the candidates, gun control will be thrust on the table suddenly and unavoidably.

Guns are an especially potent issue in Pennsylvania, which is home to 300,000 members of the National Rifle Association -- the highest per capita NRA membership in the country, according to Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action. A 2002 Quinnipiac University poll found that 42 percent of Pennsylvania households have guns, including 54 percent of union households, a key Democratic constituency.

Gun issues also stir up passions in Pennsylvania for another very different reason. Philadelphia has experienced an epidemic of gun killings: 331 people were shot to death last year, 321 with handguns.

Local officials have pleaded with the state Legislature to pass new regulations, including measures to limit handgun purchases to one gun a week, allow local governments to pass their own gun control laws and require handgun owners to report lost or stolen weapons. Not one has passed. Last December, black lawmakers stormed out of the Legislature to protest the failure to pass new gun restrictions, and Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell ordered each member to "put your rear end on the line" and vote for the laws -- all to no avail.

"Pennsylvania legislators, including many Democrats, respect gun rights," Cox said.

I don't think either Dem has been asked about the D.C. gun case, and that will undoubtedly be big in the fall depending on when the case comes down from the Supremes. It's likely that the Supremes will find an individual right to gun ownership (that's been there all along) and the Dem candidates will have to come up with an opinion on the subject, whether they really believe it or not.