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Editorial: Dead wrong

By The Times-Ledger

Over the last five years, we have used this space on numerous occasions to protest the political despotsim of the Queens Democratic machine. Under the direction of party boss Tom Manton, the machine routinely does everything within its power to control who will run for election on the Democratic line.

There is little the machine hates more than a primary. The Party officials take advantage of the state's arcane election law to discourage insurgents from challenging incumbents who have the blessing of the Democratic Party organization. Lawyers working for Manton scrutinize primary petitions and usually have little trouble getting judges who themselves were elected with the blessing of the machine to toss these petitions on a technicality. Until this system is overhauled, there is no democracy in Queens.

It is then with some chagrin that we concede that the machine's challenge to the petitions of Cynthia Jenkins appears to have been well-founded. It has been alleged that Helen Roberts, a campaign volunteer for Jenkins, forged dozens of signatures and even persuaded a number of dead people to support the Jenkins campaign. In fairness, we would have asked Ms. Roberts, who was once convicted of bank fraud, how this might have happen, but she has not been available for comment. Instead we must settle for asking Jenkins, a former assemblywoman, how she could have trusted this person.

That's the bad news. If there is one bright light in this dreary local political landscape, it is the candidacy of Saundra Pope. Pope is challenging incumbent Assemblyman William Scarborough for the right to represent St. Albans on the Democratic Party line. Yes, ladies and gentleman, there will be a Democratic Party primary in southeast Queens.

Pope is a successful businesswoman who wants to “shake up” local politics. By getting her name on the ballot, she already has. Whether or not she wins the primary race, Pope has shown that it is possible to take on the boys in the backroom at the Democratic Party headquarters – without soliciting the help of the imaginary and the dead.

Sensible gun law

While friends mourned the shooting death of Wilton Chandler on the streets of South Jamaica, Gov. Pataki was signing legislation that will make it more difficult for criminals to get guns.

The new legislation closes a loophole in existing gun laws that allowed people to purchase handguns at gun shows without a background check. The law also raises the minimum age for the purchase of a handgun from 18 to 21 and bans the sale of assault weapons. The law will do nothing to deprive honest citizens of their Constitutional right to bear arms. It will make it that much harder for people with criminal records, a substance-abuse problem or mental illness to get their hands on a weapon.

Sadly, this new legislation comes too late to save the life of Wilton Chandler, an 18-year-old high school dropout who dreamed of escaping the mean streets surrounding the South Jamaica Houses. Chandler was shot three times in the early hours of a Saturday morning, possibly by someone he had had an argument with during his troubled past.

The new legislation introduced by state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) will not make it impossible for killers to get their hands on a gun. It will make it harder. Statistics show that young men between the ages of 16 and 21 are most at risk for involvement in violent crime. We can think of no legitimate reason why anyone this age needs to own a handgun.