Berks County is close to Philadelphia, but does not border it. The County Seat is Reading.  But they have a Sheriff who, unlike John Street and Ed Rendell, can face reality:
Berks County Sheriff Barry J. Jozwiak asked a panel of state lawmakers in Reading on Thursday to shoot down any legislation that would limit handgun purchases, claiming it would not curb crime or gun violence.
That had to have given the Philadelphia pols, and Mayor McMahon a heart attack. But it gets better:
Jozwiak, a Republican, said he opposed a bill that would limit people to buying one handgun per month.
Instead of passing new gun laws, Jozwiak said, police and judges should enforce existing laws.
“Gun control does not reduce crime,†Jozwiak said. “In fact, criminals prefer their victims to be unarmed.â€
Jozwiak even criticized a proposal that would require gun owners to notify police if their handguns were lost or stolen.
Supporters believe that would reduce instances of people buying guns, turning them over to criminals and then claiming that the gun was lost or stolen.
Jozwiak said such a law would punish honest, law-abiding gun owners who didn’t realize that their guns were missing.
Sheriff Jozwiak isn’t alone:
State Rep. Jim Cox, a Spring Township Republican, said he would not support the one-handgun-per-month legislation because it chips away at gun owners’ rights and could lead to more drastic restrictions.
“I want people to have the sheer, unadulterated ability to defend themselves,†Cox said. “If they want to go out and buy 20 weapons to protect themselves because there has been a crime wave in their neighborhood, I don’t want to restrict them.â€
Why not? You know the criminals don’t have any problems doing the same.  I’m glad to see once you get out of The City, politicians start having more sense. The City of Philadelphia continues to make guns the scapegoats for their crime epidemic, rather than, you know, criminals.