As Irving Kristol once quipped, a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged by reality. Well, reality made an appearance on the streets of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania last night when two state House members — Rep. Marty Flynn, (D) Lackawanna, and the delightfully named Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, (D) Erie — were walking home after a late dinner. As post-gazette.com reports, “(T)hey were approached by a man who pointed a gun at them and demanded their wallets” . . .
“Neither lawmaker handed over anything,” the statement said. “Flynn drew a handgun that he is licensed to carry and exchanged shots with the first male, at which time both attackers and victims ran in different directions.”
No one was struck by gunfire, said Harrisburg police Officer Paula Trovy.
To be fair, despite his party affiliation, Flynn represents Lackawanna county which is in the northeast part of the Keystone State, a more rural area with, no doubt, stronger gun rights support than is found around the urban centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. And the former prison guard has recently taken pro-gun rights positions recently, voting to strengthen the state’s preemption law and against an amendment that would have required background checks on the private sale of long guns.
Four yoots were subsequently arrested for the stick-up attempt.
Harrisburg police arrested four suspects, identified as Jamani Ellison, 17; Jyair Leonard, 15; Derek Anderson, 17; and Zha-quan McGhee, 15.
They’ve been charged with criminal attempted homicide, conspiracy, robbery, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and carrying a firearm without a license.