PHILADELPHIA – City leaders today announced support for a package of common-sense gun laws that the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee is hearing this week. House Bills 338, 714, 731, and 1018 include policies that would combat the illegal possession of firearms, close loopholes for storage and background checks, protect people in crisis, and ultimately help save lives in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvanians want sensible gun laws that make communities safer: A 2019 survey by Franklin & Marshall found almost two-thirds of registered voters in Pennsylvania support creating more laws that regulate gun ownership.
The bills:
- Create the obligation across the Commonwealth for gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm, which helps police more accurately trace how weapons come to be in illegal hands and hold those who participate in illegal markets accountable
- Require background checks and safe storage for all firearms, closing the loophole that currently excludes rifles from background checks and from the safety lock requirements
- Provide for Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) giving a mechanism for loved ones, family members, or law enforcement to ask a Judge to hold a hearing to temporarily disarm someone in crisis.
“We have lost too many Philadelphians to preventable deaths from gun violence,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “The General Assembly should act swiftly to give residents and law enforcement these commonsense tools that many of our neighboring states have already adopted to make sure that guns do not end up in the hands of those who should not have them. I am grateful to the House leadership for taking up the most important issue we are facing today and taking action to keep us all safer.”
“Reporting these thefts and losses allows police to more accurately trace how these weapons come to be in illegal hands and hold those who participate in illegal markets accountable,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.
“We’re hopeful that the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee votes favorably on a package of gun violence prevention bills currently under consideration in Harrisburg,” said City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. “For far too long, the only response that Philadelphia has gotten from Harrisburg on the gun issue is indifference and silence. Meanwhile, the streets of our city are continually flooded with illegal guns, which fuels an ongoing epidemic of gun violence. Whether it’s a requirement that lost or stolen handguns are reported to the police, or closing the last, remaining loophole in Pennsylvania’s background check system, or strengthening the extreme risk protection order system, we’re asking Harrisburg for action on illegal guns – now.”
To date in 2023, 432 Philadelphians were victims of nonfatal shootings and 108 were shot fatally; 9 of those victims were children. In 2022, there were 474 fatal shootings in the City, 37 of whom were children. As of this week Philadelphia Police have recovered 1882 guns used in crimes during 2023; in 2022 PPD recovered 6269 crime guns.