LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Over the last few months, two terrible gun bills were defeated through Governor Wolf’s veto. The latest bill aimed to give legal standing for extreme groups to sue local municipalities if they took any policy action to reduce gun violence. We thank Governor Wolf for vetoing these terrible bills, and we thank all of the legislators who spoke out against these proposals.

Additionally, an additional $35 million in community safety investments were proposed by Governor Wolf in his budget address. You can read our statement on the proposal here. The budget will have to be passed by both legislative chambers later this summer, and will likely not match this first proposal.

Want to know more about the proposed legislation being considered by your lawmaker? We have a digital guide for you, which outlines bills we’re supporting, opposing, as well as the ones where we’re neutral.

In Court - Reporting Lost and Stolen Firearms

For too long cities have had to deal with shootings with few laws to keep residents safe. We're trying to change that by defending Philadelphia's law to require owners to report lost or stolen firearms, a major source of illegal guns driving the homicide rate up. While the Commonwealth Court ruled against us, a Republican judge agreed it's time to revisit preemption: "“The overwhelming blight of gun violence occurring in the City of Philadelphia, of which I believe we can take judicial notice, and the policy issues argued by the city in the case before us, call for a recognition that local conditions may well justify more severe restrictions than are necessary statewide," Judge Leadbetter wrote. Next up: the PA State Supreme Court.

Seven mothers. Seven hearts forever broken.

Read the powerful column written by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Helen Ubiñas.

Gun Shops and Gun Shots

Champe Barton of The Trace writes about the impact of poverty on gun sales and gun violence. As this article notes, the Biden administration has been pursuing avenues for accountability of gun shops that do not comply with state and federal law, and the sociological study discussed reports clusters of gun violence in the areas surrounding gun shops.

Of note, "The Rutgers team found that shootings near gun shops were most often categorized by local police as manslaughters and assaults. The authors believe this may mean the violence that happens near gun stores is more impsulive than calculated. Robbery-related shootings did not cluster around gun stores, suggesting that the proximate violence was not the result of thefts committed by or against recent customers." Be sure to check it out.

The CDC data on gun violence for 2020 has been finalized. The Pew Research Center created this one-pager on what this looks like at a national level, and what that means. Here in Pennsylvania, we continue to lend our expertise as advocates to pass research-based, impactful legislative proposals to reduce the toll of gun violence on our communities. Read more about how this public health crisis impacts Pennsylvanians.

Before we go, we wanted to ask you a quick favor. Will you help us spread the word about this newsletter? With your help, we're going to build the political power to end gun violence. We've supplied some easy buttons below for you to share it with friends and on all your social media platforms.