Friend, 

On October 27, 2018, a gunman killed 11 people and injured six more at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, in a hate-filled attack that sent shock and grief through the city and the country. 

Since then, no new legislation has moved to prevent future gun violence.

Instead, the Senate Majority is preparing to vote on deadly legislation to allow anyone to carry a hidden firearm (no permit needed) and punish cities, including Pittsburgh, who are trying to stop mass shootings and rising community violence.Tell your state senator: this is no way to honor victims of violence.Tell your state senator: this is no way to honor victims of violence.

These two bills would make everything from mass shootings to deadly community shootings more likely to happen. Here’s how:

• Punitive Preemption (Senate Bill 448) would allow anyone—even the NRA—to sue a city for trying to reduce gun violence through local ordinances, then force taxpayers to pay the legal fees.[1] Pittsburgh City Councilmembers O’Connor and Strassburger led the charge for an assault weapons ban after the synagogue shooting. Now their efforts to stop catastrophes could cost them and the city.
• Permitless Carry (Senate Bill 565) would allow anyone over 18 to carry a loaded and concealed firearm in public without any need for a permit.[2] This would increase the ability of untrained, abusive, or unstable people to take a gun anywhere they want.

Combined, these bills will put Pennsylvanians in greater danger from firearm violence, while putting even more money into the hands of the gun manufacturer’s lobby. A similar bill to SB 4448 was already passed by the State House of Representatives, and was approved by the Senate’s Local Government Committee last week. We have to stop it before it passes the full Pennsylvania Senate.

Pittsburgh officials responded to the Tree of Life murders with local statutes to prevent further mass shootings—for example, banning assault weapons and allowing a court to temporarily remove firearms when someone poses a major threat to others.[3] But state law blocked Pittsburgh from enacting these life-saving policies. Now, many PA Senators not only want to enable younger and less-qualified people to carry concealed, they also want to financially punish taxpayers who have begged their local governments to protect them from out-of-control gun violence when state legislators refused to.

Contact your state senator now: let them know this dangerous response will not stand. Enough is enough. Oppose punitive preemption and permitless concealed carry.

Thank you for standing for what’s right.

Adam Garber
Executive Director, CeaseFirePA 

[1] "Regular Session 2021-2022: Senate Bill 448." Pennsylvania General Assembly, accessed October 18, 2021.
[2] "Regular Session 2021-2022: Senate Bill 565." Pennsylvania General Assembly, accessed October 22, 2021.
[3] "Pittsburgh reveals gun control bills promised after Tree of Life shooting." PublicSource, December 14, 2018.