U.S.A. โย Pennsylvania's General Assembly is back in Harrisburg and at the top of the list for consideration is a gun control package Democrats appear determined to pass, and theyย quickly did moveย two of their four bills Monday.
According toย WGAL News, the wish list includes the following measures:
- Mandatory background checks on all private sales of long guns, which was passed Monday
- A bill allowing judges to issue emergency orders allowing authorities to โtemporarilyโ disarm someone โin crisis,โ the state's version of a โred flagโ law, which also was adopted by the Democrat House majority
Two other measures didn't get the nod, at least so far, according to WGAL:
- A requirement that gun owners must report lost or stolen firearms within 72 hours
- A so-called โsafe storageโ mandate requiring gun owners to lock up or disable guns when not in use. Trigger locks would be sold with all long guns.
The debate started Monday, according toย The Sentinelย and Associated Press, which reported: โDemocrats are using their razor-thin one-vote majority in the House seeking to advance several bills they couch as relatively moderate.โ They maintain this legislative package will help prevent suicides, and reduce gun trafficking and accidental shootings. And they contend passage of these bills will also reduce crime; essentially the same arguments used by gun control proponents everywhere to advance their agenda.
The Sentinel report says representatives from Everytown for Gun Safetyโthe Michael Bloomberg-backed gun control lobbying groupโsays 19 states have so-called โred flagโ laws now.
House Republicans, however, contend the bills will not likely prevent gun-related violent crime, since criminals don't obey the law, and some suggested the measures might violate both the Pennsylvania and U.S. constitutions, according to WGAL.
The roadblock to complete passage may be the Pennsylvania Senate, which is still under Republican control andย reconvenesย Monday, June 5. As noted by The Sentinel, Senate Republicans have โhistorically been protective of gun rights, while working with Democrats in boosting funding for anti-violence and mental health programs.โ
Democrats took control of the House earlier this year and the session began with a gun control push.
Pennsylvania is one more in a string of states where Democrats have been pushing the gun control agenda. Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, California and New Mexico lawmakers all started working on new gun restrictions, while gun rights organizations have continued filing legal challenges to existing laws.
Freshman Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro had promised to tighten Keystone State gun control laws, and earlier this year,ย Spotlight PAย recalled those commitments included a ban on so-called โghost guns.โ Other items on Shapiro's agenda include the measures House Democrats passed Monday: โuniversal background checksโ and a โred flagโ law. But the bills must still make it through the Senate, and there the momentum may stop.
Last year, Philadelphia saw 8 percent fewer homicides than it did in 2021, according toย WHYY. The city logged 516 slayings, down from the record of 562 set in 2021.
However, out west in Pittsburgh, there were 149 murders, according toย police department data. It was one of the city's deadliest years, according to theย Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In Allegheny County, which encompasses Pittsburgh,ย WPXIย reported there were 129 homicides last year.
This data provides talking points for gun control proponents, while it also suggests adopting new gun restrictions may not have the desired results. Only time will tell, and there is no guarantee any of the gun control bills will ever reach Shapiro's desk.
Meanwhile, out west, the mayor of Albuquerque, N.M. isย promising to take actionย in the wake of relative inaction by the State Legislature. In his โState of the Cityโ message over the weekend, Democrat Mayor Tim Keller declared โThis summer we are cracking down on guns. We are going to triangulate existing restrictions around schools to aggressively target any crime with a gun anywhere in downtown Albuquerque.โ
That may take some magic since New Mexico has a preemption clause in its state constitution, Article II, Section 6, which reads,ย โNo law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.โ
In other states, there are preemption statutes which are constantly under attack by Democrats, but in New Mexico, it would take an amendment to the state constitution to make that happen.
Keller's remarks came just days after a deadly triple homicide occurred in Farmington, in which three older women were killed. Other people were wounded and police killed the suspect.
Read the original article in its entirety at Ammoland.
5 Comments
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The Gun Control set, aka The Anti Rights Coalition keeps singing the same old song, complete wi5hnthe same old sour notes.
wi5hnthe should be with the. Sorry for that giant typo. Canโt say how it happened.
my guess is that they don’t live in crime-filled Philadelphia
Having been born and raised in Southwestern PA I have to agree with you.