Bang Bang, Shoot'em Up!

This Tuesday the governor is taking the unusual step of speaking before the House Judiciary Committee. The subject will be a series of gun related bills. For those who have not been following the subject in the papers, I have provided brief descriptions of the bills with one or more points for and against. This is limited to my understanding of the arguments; please keep in mind that my understanding is certain to be incomplete and could also be faulty.

Should you have strong feelings on this matter, and especially if your representative is on the House Judiciary Committee, Monday would be the day to let them know, or early Tuesday.

You can link to the bills themselves for a full description.


House Bill 18, sponsored by State Representative Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia), would further provide for limitations on the regulation of firearms and ammunition by local municipalities. Includes wording on how these regulations may be made and what kinds of regulations may be made.

For: This would allow areas with serious crime problems (say, Philadelphia) to implement more stringent firearm regulations.

Against: Having different firearm regulations around the state would make it difficult, if not impossible, for legal owners of guns to keep track of what may be done where. Also, regulations that affect the sale of guns in one location (say, Philadelphia) would not stop people from walking across the city boundary and buying guns in surrounding counties.

House Bill 22, "one-gun-a-month" legislation, sponsored by State Representative John Myers (D-Philadelphia), prohibits citizens (but not dealers, collectors, security firms, those whose guns were stolen, or a number of other exceptions) from purchasing more than one handgun a month. Also calls for background checks on buyers.

For: will cut down on “straw purchases.”

Against: Restricts the rights of legal gun owners.

House Bill 29, "Lost or Stolen Firearms" legislation, sponsored by State Representative Jewell Williams (D-Philadelphia), would create a statewide registry of lost or stolen firearms and make it a crime to fail to report the loss or theft of a firearm to police within 24 hours of discovering the firearm missing.

For: This would prevent straw purchasers or criminals from saying guns that belong to them that were later involved in a crime had previously been lost or stolen

Against: Criminalizes those whose weapons have been lost or stolen.


For more information see:

NRA

Hand Gun Sanity (a project of CeaseFirePA)

“Rendell puts gun divide to the test,” by Thomas Fitzgerald and Amy Worden, Inquirer 11/18

“Rendell to speak to panel on gun control,” by Charles Thompson, Pennlive 11/16

(hat tips to CeaseFirePA and GrassrootsPA)