I take seriously any sincere opinion held by any American.

Your statement that I never offer air time to opposing views is misinformed. 1. You don’t know my opinion. What you know is the opinion of my guests and only the opinions of the guests that you have happened to watch. 2. On the issue you are addressing, I have recently had on Greg Isabella of the Firing Line and Mark Fiorino, a gun rights advocate who had a run-in with the police in which he was innocent and the police were wrong. By the way, after that program, I was accused by a gun control leader of being biased in favor of gun rights.

No one at NBC10 has ever told me what to say or think.
The history of NBC10@Issue is to occasionally have on the Mayor and the Governor and not to make it a “debate” with other guests unless in a campaign season, but rather to hear and understand their viewpoints. I believe knowing what they think helps both supporters and opponents. I take a long-term view of issues and believe that opportunities for views of each side balance out on the program. Some programs have opposing sides on the same program; others are separated. There are many reasons for this, but bias is not one them.
Also, during my interview with the mayor, I brought up the person who killed a bad guy and saved lives because that good person had a gun. I brought up that there are other issues other than guns that impact crime(why I used the Wayne LaPierre sound bite.)
What we did learn in that interview is one thing President Obama is thinking of doing and the outline of what Nutter is going to announce.
Paul, I respect the passion of anyone who has sincerely thought about an issue and wants to discuss it, but I would hope we can have this discussion in a climate of mutual respect. My email address is shighsmith@tribune.com. Feel free to contact me if you agree with that spirit. I will respond as soon as I am able.

Sincerely,

Steve

I want to thank you for the PR campaign and photo-OP you gave to mayor nutter, on Live @ Issue, on January 4, 2013. Nothing new out of nutter’s mouth, with regard to the violence in the City of Philadelphia. Yeah, it’s the guns. Inanimate objects just seem to go off by themselves, so we better get rid of all of them.

It’s quite obvious that neither you, nor nutter, know ANYTHING about the Second Amendment, or why it is in place in the first place.

Why should you care? You have your LTCF permit, issued by Bucks County, so you and your family are safe. Or so you think.

The Second Amendment ASSURES the American people the GOD-GIVEN RIGHT to protect themselves from ALL enemies, both foreign and domestic, and most importantly, from a tyrannical Federal Government. The Founders installed this Amendment to ASSURE the American people the RIGHT to protect the Republic. it ain’t about duck-hunting, sportsman, hobbyists, etc., as you and mayor nutter would like the uninformed citizen to believe.

The Militia, as mentioned in the Second Amendment, is comprised of private citizens, not the local LEO’s or the National Guard, again as you and nutter would have us believe.

As for the violence in Philadelphia, I have a few questions for you and mayor nutter:

1.) How is it that thousands and thousands of weapons have been confiscated in Philadelphia public schools, yet there have been NO arrests, NO prosecutions, NO convictions, and NO sentencing of offenders of the “NO Weapons Laws?”

2.) How is it, that a 17 TIMES!, violent offender is released from prison, (where he had a reputation for violence!), and two weeks later he shoots and kills Officer Liczbinski ? Why was he let out of prison?

3.) Why is it that the Philadelphia Police Force fails to patrol, yet they have patrol cars? Ask any Philadelphia resident how often they see a patrol car in their neighborhood, and they’ll tell you it is a rare occurrence, unless they are responding to a call. Don’t believe me? Post an e-mail address, and I can send you dozens and dozens of photographs of PPD officers(?) hiding, in cemeteries, behind CVS buildings, the local Rite-Aid, and doing their personal shopping while on duty. Yeah, Ramsey’;s got a hold on this.

4.) Why is it mayor nutter has done nothing to enforce the curfews, nothing to reduce the 50% drop-out rate among high-schoolers, nothing to reduce truancy, and nothing to reduce drug-trafficking. ALL of which have had a dramatic impact on quality of life in Philadelphia.

Do you really think more “Gun Laws” will solve the violence in the City of Philadelphia? Or are you just giving nutter the bully pulpit to push his enslaving Statist ‘principles?’

You have NEVER offered airtime to the opposing side, of any issue involving Philadelphia, especially when it comes to violence involving a gun. You are not an objective journalist, but rather subjective. you know what you want to present to your audience, and how you want to present it. Damn the facts. Damn the TRUTH! You just push your Elitist Liberal agenda, and expect your viewers to swallow your load. Well, I know better, just like thousand of Philadelphians, who you really are, a mouthpiece and photo-op for the power-mongers that inhabit City Hall.

It’s sad really. I really thought you had a spine, and a sack between your legs. As it turns out, you’re little more than an easily manipulated pawn, doing what the mother-station (NBC News), tells you to do. Gotta keep the ratings high, no matter what the truth may be. And of course, you can’t badmouth the mayor or Ramsey, lest you be accused of being racist.

If you care to discuss this further, then post a direct link to your e-mail, and I’ll gladly have a discussion of the facts with you.

Philadelphia resident, taxpayer, gun-owner, and Proud American.