Win Some, Lose Some

Or in Bryan Miller’s case, lose big, but say you won. He’s spinning the tabling of HB 29, the lost and stolen gun bill, as an example of progress for his agenda. It’s true that the bill was tabled, but not for the reason Bryan thinks. It was tabled to save the Governor embarrassment, and it was the anti-gun forces that were mostly in favor of tabling it. It was tabled to avoid having it defeated outright, along with the other two bills. Let’s take a look at the votes, shall we? These were the representatives who were willing to go on record with a vote on this bill:

Representative Deberah Kula, D-52
Representative Joseph A. Petrarca, D-55
Representative Ronald S. Marisco, R-105
Representative Thomas C. Creighton, R-37
Representative Craig A. Dally, R-138
Representative John R. Evans, R-5
Representative Glen R. Grell, R-87
Representative Beverly Mackereth, R-196
Representative Carl W. Mantz, R-187
Representative Tina Pickett, R-110
Representative Todd Rock, R-90
Representative Katie True, R-41

Gee, those are all pro-gun Republicans, save two Democrats from districts that don’t look too kindly upon the Governor, or gun control. The Democrats who voted to table this bill, but voted against one gun a month were Pallone, Ramaley, and Walko. Gabig is the only Republican not voting for the other bills who switched sides and voted to table HB 29. I don’t think, given the pro-gun forces wanted this bill voted on, it’s reasonable to conclude this is a sign of progress for Bryan Miller’s legislative agenda for Pennsylvania.

One has to wonder if Mr. Miller were a boxer, he’d declare victory because the other guy only managed to crack a few rips, break a wrist, but failed to break his nose.

UPDATE: Rustmeister has more