Early in the new legislative session, CeaseFirePA brought doctors, students and survivors from across the Commonwealth to rally at the capitol. They demanded that PA legislators pass legislation that keeps guns out of the hands of those who should not have them. Many elected officials stood with us in the rotunda, including Governor Wolf and Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.
At the end of last session, Governor Wolf Signed a bill that would keep guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers. This was the only gun violence prevention bill passed last session, and was the first to address PA’s gun violence problem in years! In order to keep Pennsylvanians safe we need to keep passing common sense gun violence prevention measures including but not limited to:
- Universal background checks, making sure every gun sale undergoes a background check
- Extreme risk protection orders (ERPO), equipping family and law enforcement to remove guns from those at risk of harming themselves or others
- Limits on magazine capacity, limiting the amount of time shooter have to continuously fire.
- Ban on assault weapons, guns designed for the battlefield should not be in civilian hands
- Requiring safe storage of firearms, keeping gun owners responsible for keeping their guns secure and preventing access by those who should not have them.
Pennsylvanians know that gun violence can occur anywhere and that no one is immune. There is no time to wait for our Pennsylvania legislature to take action. Every day that they fail to act, more lives are lost to guns. As stated by the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“No one should have to die to get the attention of state legislators, but they do die, every day somewhere in this state. How much more bloodshed does the legislature need before they take action on reasonable gun laws?”
