Legislation on firearms wins battle in war on gun violence

The Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee shot five bills toward the first step to passage Tuesday. ( Spectators filled the seats and lined the walls of the majority caucus room in the Capitol Tuesday morning because the House Judiciary Committee considered a number of gun safety bills in which all five considered were passed- a momentous victory for firearm legislation in the ongoing war on gun violence. It’s been years since a firearm legislation bill touched the floor, largely because Pennsylvania is a pro-gun rights state. The recent string of gun violence and mass shootings have shifted the motion in the legislature. Only halfway through the year, there have already been over 130 mass shootings with more than 26,000 incidents involving a gun, not including around 22,000 suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive , a non-profit corporation tracking gun violence from thousands of sources. Shira Goodman, executive director with the leading gun violence prevention organization CeaseFirePA, highlights Parkland and the activism following it as well as the upcoming elections as triggers that pushed a shift in legislature. "This is the first time in years, strong bills to save lives will reach the House Floor," she said. "I think it’s really significant. Just giving the committee a chance to vote on these bills, some of which have been filed every year, for years. This is what they’re supposed to do: debate things and vote them up and down or not." House Judiciary Committee Majority Chairman Ron Marsico, R-Dauphin, launched a […]

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