PA Bill Number: HB829
Title: In preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Description: An Act amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Last Action: Signed in House
Last Action Date: Jul 3, 2024
Democrats are just getting started on their gun control wish list :: 02/27/2019
Democrats on Wednesday are poised to pass the first significant gun control measures in decades through the House after pledging to take action during the 2018 election.
The effort will hit a roadblock in the Republican-led Senate, but House Democrats are touting the legislation as the first of many measures they will consider to curb the growing problem of gun violence.
“We’ve got a ton of things identified,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., who heads a House task force on gun violence established by Democrats.
The panel is examining conceal-carry reciprocity laws, “red flag” laws targeting gun owners who are deemed a safety risk, and laws to protect children from accessing guns, Democrats said.
“Background checks are just one way to deter the expansive culture that we are living in,” said Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Fla., a member of the gun violence task force.
The House will first vote Wednesday on a bill that would broaden the nation’s background check system that currently applies to licensed firearms dealers.
[Related: Ready to revive gun control fight]
The measure would expand background checks to add excluded commercial firearm sales, such as those that take place at gun shows, over the Internet, or in classified ads. The bill provides “reasonable exceptions” for firearm transfers between family and friends.
Five Republicans signed on as co-sponsors, but overall the measure is not expected to garner robust bipartisan support.
House Democrats plan to vote Thursday on another gun control measure sponsored by Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., that would extend the wait time for background checks on guns purchased from three days to 10 days or more.
Clyburn first introduced the measure following the Charleston, S.C., shooting in an historic black church. Dylann Roof, the shooter, was able to purchase a gun before a background check revealed he was ineligible to do so.
While House Democrats will consider passage in the lower chamber a major victory for their long-held desire to advance gun control, both bills are doomed to die in the Senate where the GOP majority isn’t likely to take them up.
That won’t stop House Democrats from pushing more gun control legislation. Thompson said the gun violence panel he chairs “is alive and well,” and plans to meet with more experts and researchers to plan new legislation and will hold a public hearing.
“We have a pretty aggressive schedule ahead of us,” Thompson said.
The group is examining red flag laws, which allow states to take guns away from individuals deemed to be a serious safety risk. Mucarsel-Powell said the panel is also weighing initiatives to protect children from accessing guns and will examine concealed carry reciprocity laws, which allows gun owners to carry in different states.
Mucarsel-Powell called expansion of concealed carry reciprocity to all states “the number one agenda,” of the NRA . Most Democrats oppose it and argue it would reduce safety in states with stricter gun laws.
House Democrats have so far steered clear of the most aggressive gun control measures that would ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced such bills restricting certain types of guns and advocates are eager to see legislation passed.
But so far, House Democrats are looking at legislation that has at least a chance of picking up some GOP support.
“We are not about infringing upon people's Second Amendment rights to protect their families and their children and their territories but we have to make sure we are critically looking at the laws making sure they are common sense and also looking for bipartisan support,” Muscarel-Powell said.
