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We’ve been hard at work, engaging communities across the Commonwealth around the crisis of gun violence. In the days after our huge rally in Philadelphia, we’ve been ensuring that everyone across Pennsylvania knows about the crisis of gun violence and is ready to take action.

We were thrilled to partner with the Philadelphia Eagles, who created a resource page for community stakeholders to engage on the issue of gun violence and seek support. Their partnership didn’t just stop there. They recruited all of the other Philadelphia sports teams in the work, bringing awareness to the crisis of gun violence. Eagles players dedicated their press conference time to the issue, they auctioned off orange jerseys for two survivor-led gun violence prevention organizations, and they even lit up the stadium orange! A gun buyback program took place at the stadium this past Monday, fully funded by the Eagles organization.

In Montgomery County, our advocacy day coordinator Zhara managed the execution of a rally on the courthouse steps.

In Erie, our Western PA Manager, Josh, held a community conversation with panelists and stakeholders.

In Uniontown, we supported a community gathering to honor and recognize gun violence survivors, community partners, and those whose lives have been taken due to gun violence. In the city of Chester, our Southeastern PA Coordinator, Carol, partnered with organizations to organize a march for peace.

In Pittsburgh, our Southwest PA Coordinator, Beth, organized a community gathering and peace walk, and our team also was in representation at a protest outside of Senator Toomey's Pittsburgh office, with survivor David Hogg.

On Tuesday afternoon, Zhara, Adam, and Colleen worked with Tuesdays with Toomey, Indivisible Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers to execute a die-in protest outside of Senator Pat Toomey’s Philadelphia district office.

On Thursday evening, Carol convened a gun violence town hall with Senator Kearney, Representative O’Mara, and community stakeholders.

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protect our Kids Act, a historic omnibus legislative package to address gun violence. 

The bill would:

• generally prohibit the sale or transfer of certain semiautomatic firearms to individuals who are under 21 years of age; 
• Establish new federal criminal offenses for gun trafficking and related conduct; 
• establish a federal statutory framework to regulate ghost guns (i.e., guns without serial numbers); 
• establish a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels; 
• subjects bump stocks to regulation under federal firearms laws; and 
• generally prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices.

This expansive bill is unlikely to pass through the U.S. Senate in its current form, but elements of it remain on the negotiating table and we are continuing to keep up the pressure.

In Harrisburg, the political obstruction continues, and we’ve had to continue to be nimble, in consultation with legislative partners and stakeholders, to drive forward action.

In the Senate, PA Senate Democrats issued six discharge resolutions, to attempt to resolve the obstruction happening through the committee process. If and when successful, this legislative maneuver allows a floor vote even when the chair of a committee does not consent to it. For years, the committee process has been used to let bills languish in committees while giving Republican legislators in moderate districts an excuse to say they didn’t take a bad vote. 

In the House, things are even uglier. House Republican leadership openly canceled the session and went home, out of fear that bills would be put through the discharge resolution process there as well. A critical House Judiciary Committee hearing is happening on Monday, and we hope you’ll tune in. (We’ll be posting the link on social media.) If you’d like to join us in person in the State Capitol, register now.

To be abundantly clear, legislators in majority power do not just fear gun reform legislation passing. They fear even having a public debate about it in front of their constituents.

Click here to contact your legislator about the key proposals we’re trying to pass right now via these processes. Each one takes two minutes, and we really need to drive up the pressure at this moment:

We’re collecting your personal items, items that would be used by you to identify your child or loved one, should they be someday massacred by gun violence. They’ll be delivered in a few short weeks to the doorsteps of the legislative leaders obstructing progress. 

Send us a memento that represents your child: a lock of hair, a small toy, a hair ribbon, a photo, a small article of clothing, a drawing, a matchbox car. Using these precious mementos, we will create a memorial tribute to the children lost, and to the living children who could be saved by stronger gun legislation. We will treat these mementos with the utmost care, as if we were handling the treasures of the children who were massacred in Uvalde. 

In one month, we will hand-deliver this advocate-created political statement and art installation to House Speaker Bryan Cutler and Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward in Harrisburg. They must face up to their inaction!

Click here to register your item and get more information about how to participate!