Feds disarm local gun shop

This is LONG overdue and I think it's the best news to come out of Upper Darby in a long time. In case you didn't know, here are some facts pertaining to guns that came from the pawn shop: **snippet** Lou's guns were used in 19 homicides and 65 shootings between 2003 and 2005, according to Capt. Benjamin Naish, a police spokesman. In some of Philadelphia's most sensational homicides, these guns killed: • Anthony Oliver, 14, who was shot accidentally by a friend who had just bought a .25-caliber handgun for $50 on the street last year. • Faheem Thomas-Childs, 10, in the middle of a gunbattle between two drug gangs outside his school in February 2004. • Police Officer Lauretha Vaird during a botched robbery in 1996, and a year later, seriously wounded another officer, Jay Delaney, who was shot six times and unable to return to work. GREAT work by the Feds!!!! UPPER DARBY -- Two months after a vocal protest regarding the quantity of gun sales at a local pawnshop, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has taken action and revoked its license to sell handguns. Mark W. Potter, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of ATF, announced Monday the revoking of Lou’s Loans’ federal firearms license to sell guns. "There are a number of adjudicated cases in which crime guns and guns associated with straw purchases came from Lou’s Loans," Potter said. "ATF’s mission is to protect the public and with our actions today I believe Philadelphia and the surrounding communities are a bit safer now that a known source for crime guns has been closed." Lou’s Loans, formally Lou’s Jewelry and Pawn Shop, 29 S. 69th St., was open Monday selling money orders and conducting business as usual for other sales and services. Employees declined comment. The revocation, a result of an ATF regulatory investigation finding numerous and egregious violations of the Gun Control Act by Lou’s Loans, terminates all gun sales from Lou’s. "This is a great day for the law enforcement community," Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. "Straw purchases are a big issue. Certainly it limits Upper Darby’s involvement in gun violence." In May, Chitwood joined with CeaseFire NJ and PA, Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns, Men United for a Better Philadelphia, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (BPV) and the Pennsylvania Million Mom March on 69th Street, across the street from Lou’s, to focus attention on the quantity of legal sales by straw purchasers and illegal transfer of firearms. "This was a location that local, state and federal levels have shown to be a major center for guns used to murder, maim and destroy people and families," Chitwood said. "I applaud ATF for their action. Hopefully revoking the gun license limits access to guns in our community." Merchants on 69th Street, who declined to be identified, also applauded the action. "I’m in favor of it," one man said. "The less guns on the street the better. I’m glad for anything that keeps guns off the streets. Violence is on the rise and a lot more has to be done to reduce the violence." "It’s scary," one shopkeeper said. "I’m very glad they revoked their license. We don’t need any more violence. It’s harder to get a license in a foreign country where only the government issues them. I’m not against the American system but it needs some improvement." A New Jersey resident working on the street said the gun laws in Pennsylvania should be stricter. "It should be monitored," the man said. "Jersey’s laws are stricter."