By Mark Abrams

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A group that promotes Philadelphia tourism today celebrated the birthday of the city’s beloved Benjamin Franklin.

And he’s looking pretty good for 307 years old.

Franklin, played by actor Bill Robling, was in good spirits for the celebration at the Historic Philadelphia Center, 6th and Chestnut Streets.

A famous father of the country who participated in the debate over the Constitution, today he was asked how he and his colonial contemporaries might view today’s rancourous debate over the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms.

“We never all agreed on anything, and I suppose to some people that right to bear arms would mean, as it implies, the right to have a militia. To other people, they want to be sure to have their own (arms).  So I’m not sure that I would quibble too much with either.”

He says he hopes all sides will stop talking long enough to listen to one another’s positions, so that some kind of compromise can be struck.