PA Bill Number: HB777
Title: In firearms and other dangerous articles, further providing for definitions and providing for the offense of sale of firearm or firearm parts without ...
Description: In firearms and other dangerous articles, further providing for definitions and providing for the offense of sale of firearm or firearm parts without ...
Last Action: Referred to JUDICIARY
Last Action Date: Apr 12, 2024
Gov. Tom Wolf calls on Legislature to pass firearms-safety bills to protect domestic abuse victims :: 04/23/2018
Standing with state police leaders, Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday lauded state senators for unanimously passing a gun-safety bill and called on representatives to quickly approve it too to keep firearms out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers.
Wolf, a Democrat, called Senate Bill 501, spearheaded by a Republican, an important step toward improving public safety without diminishing law-abiding citizens’ rights to bear arms under the Second Amendment.
Citing the weekend shooting at a Nashville restaurant, Wolf said more work is needed to protect citizens from danger. He asked lawmakers to pass other bills that close loopholes in the state background checks system. One prevents the state police from reviewing the criminal history of citizens who buy so-called “long guns” from licensed dealers or conduct private sales and trades among themselves.
“I am calling on the Legislature to take up additional commonsense gun reform bills that will help us close dangerous loopholes and keep weapons out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to Pennsylvania’s citizens,” Wolf said at a news conference in the Capitol.
Senate Bill 501, sponsored by Sen. Tom Killion, R-Delaware, changes the law concerning how firearms are taken away from those who are the subject of protection from abuse orders issued by a judge.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Dauphin, wrapped up hearings on a variety of firearms bills. One allows law enforcement to seize weapons from people deemed by a court as too risky.
Another would ban high-capacity magazines and so-called bump stocks, devices that convert semi-automatic rifles into fully automatics.
Other bills would make all gun sales subject to a buyer background check; require lost or stolen guns to be reported; and add funding to schools for counseling and mental health services.
Marsico’s spokeswoman, Autumn Southard, said a committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday in the Capitol. A list of bills that could be voted on has not been released.
During Wolf’s news conference, Acting Police Commissioner Lt. Col. Robert Evanchick lobbied for lawmakers to pass a bill enhancing his agency’s ability to conduct background checks on all firearms transactions in the state.
“The Pennsylvania State Police encourages closing this void in the current law and requests that all firearm purchases and or transfer of ownership require a universal background check,” he said.
A universal check also would allow background checks on long guns: defined as a rifle with a barrel longer than 16 inches, a shotgun barrel longer than 18 inches and a handgun with a barrel longer than 12 inches.
Wolf said he supports a state ban on military-style assault weapons, but a nationwide ban would be better to prevent cross-border sales.
The state police background check system was created in 1995. The Legislature passed it during a special session called by Gov. Tom Ridge as part of his campaign pledge to get-tough-on-crime during the crack cocaine epidemic. Since then, national firearms groups have lauded the the Pennsylvania Instant Check System as a state-based model of efficiency for the way it screens for past misdeeds.
Not everyone thinks that way.
Sate Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Allegheny, and state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, have introduced bills to scrap the state system as too costly. They argue the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System can provide the same degree of checks. Neither bill has gotten a vote.
Acting Lt. Col. Scott Price Price said the state police’s background check is better. For instance, he said, the national program will not pick up PFAs that lack a defendant’s date-of-birth or Social Security number. The state system does, however.
The state system also blocked 15,176 people from getting a license to carry a gun, including thousands with mental health histories, Evanchick said. It also led to more than 1,900 convictions for firearms applicants who the system determined had outstanding warrants or charges for other crimes.
Evanchick’s and Price’s advocacy for universal background checks and command of statistics impressed Deb Marteslo, who sat in the audience as a member of the advocacy group, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Universal background checks, Marteslo said, are the linchpin for all other gun-safety bills.
Still, she said, she know how difficult a universal background check bill would be to pass the Legislature. For now, she said, she will settle for full passage of Senate Bill 501.
“We firmly believe it is a consensus bill,” said Marteslo, a resident of Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County. “It’s in the best interest of both parties to want to keep women safe from abusers.”
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-nws-wolf-state-police-gun-20180423-story.html
