Pennsylvania House Democrats and members of the PA SAFE Caucus are calling attention to the scores of gun safety reform bills that have received little to no attention under Republican leadership this session and in previous sessions.
“Even before the tragedies at Parkland, Las Vegas, Orlando, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, many House Democrats have been introducing and proposing meaningful gun safety reform legislation,” said PA SAFE Caucus Co-chair Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny. “Each time tragedy strikes, we are faced with the reality that the majority party in Harrisburg continues to keep our legislation bottled up in committee without a vote or even a hearing. We are now joined by students across the Commonwealth and Americans everywhere to say that enough is enough.”
House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody said, “After the Parkland tragedy there’s been a surge of interest in making schools and other locations safer, and that’s certainly welcome. Most of the proposals now being offered were introduced by Democrats in the House as much as a year ago and have been stuck in a committee without any action. This has to change. Democrats want to work with the Republican majority on reforms that make sense and will save lives.”
PA SAFE Caucus Co-chair Madeleine Dean, D-Montgomery, said, “The bills that PA SAFE advocates for are commonsense pieces of legislation that offer real solutions to the sickening problem of avoidable gun violence and death. While there is no single solution to this problem, as lawmakers, we have the ability and the responsibility to enact measures that will save lives. I’m proud to stand up for my colleagues’ career-long work on what unfortunately has become an epidemic without action.”
House Democrats have introduced or proposed legislation to:
- Ban bump stocks (H.B. 1872 – Reps. Madeleine Dean and Dom Costa)
- Require background checks for all firearm purchases (H.B. 1400 – Dean, Costa)
- Require Pennsylvania to transfer existing mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS (Memo circulated by Rep. Margo Davidson)
- Ban large-capacity ammunition magazines (H.B. 2112 – Rep. Kevin Boyle)
- Provide more funding for safe school initiatives (Memo circulated by Rep. Bill Kortz)
- Prohibit persons on the no-fly list from purchasing/possessing firearms (H.B. 528 – Rep. Perry Warren)
- Allow concerned family members and law enforcement to file extreme risk protective orders (H.B. 2109 – Rep. Steve McCarter)
- Require schools to timely notify parents when their kids are involved in safety incidents at school (H.B. 1498 – Rep. Stephen Kinsey)
- Increase training and education for school security officers (Memo circulated by Rep. Carol Hill-Evans)
- Allow people with mental or physical health concerns to voluntarily surrender their firearms (H.B. 273 – Rep. Maria Donatucci)
- Prohibit a person who’s been ordered to undergo involuntary mental health treatment from possessing a firearm (H.B. 22 – Rep. Mike O’Brien)
SOURCE: PA Safe Caucus
