Today the U.S. House passed HR 8, the bill to establish comprehensive
background checks. The vote was 240-190. 8 Republicans, including one
from PA, voted yes. Only two democrats voted no. Here is how the Pennsylvania delegation voted:
Brian Fitzpatrick, R — 1st district — yes
Brendan Boyle, D, 2nd district – yes
Dwight Evans, D, 3rd district – yes
Madeleine Dean, D, 4th district – yes
Mary Gay Scanlon, D, 5th district -yes
Chrissy Houlahan, D, 6th district – yes
Susan Wild, D, 7th district – yes
Matt Cartwright, D, 8th district – yes
Dan Meuser,R, 9th district- no
Scott Perry, R, 10th district – no
Lloyd Smucker, R, 11th district – no
12th district vacant
John Joyce, R, 13th district – no
Guy Reschenthaler, R, 14th district – no
Glenn Thompson, R, 15th district – no
Mike Kelly, R, 16th district – no
Connor Lamb, D, 17th district – yes
Mike Doyle, D, 18th district – yes
HR 8 fills many of the gaps left by the 1994 background check bill, and will
now cover private sales (sales by unlicensed dealers on the internet,
in person, at gun shows, etc). This is a very big deal, and a much
stronger bill than we were working for in 2013 when the Senate Bill by
Manchin and Toomey was the goal. One note, the bill passed with a bad anti-immigrant amendment
that requires some information sharing with ICE. The goal will be to get a final bill without it.
Now, there’s an effort to pass the Senate version SB 42. We’ll be
focused on Senator Toomey. However, getting it moving in the Senate at all
will be tough, especially because the President has already threatened
a veto. So, there is much work ahead. But make no mistake, this is a
big deal, and the first bill to pass out of either chamber in years!
Please thank your Rep for voting yes, and if your Rep voted no, let him know how out of touch he is!
