Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee Advances Gun Control Measures

Pennsylvania is kind of a weird state. Despite having two major urban centers, it’s more of a purple state than truly red or blue, which isn’t what you might expect from a state with cities the size of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Of course, some have described Pittsburgh to me as a city of rednecks, so that might explain some of it.

Regardless, it’s still surprising.

However, that also means there’s always a chance that they’ll actually get gun control passed, and the state’s House Judicial Committee just made a big step toward having that happen.

State Rep. Tim Briggs, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, today announced that the committee has advanced a package of commonsense gun safety bills aimed at reducing gun violence, closing dangerous loopholes, and giving law enforcement new tools to keep communities safe.

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“With these measures, the Judiciary Committee has taken important steps toward protecting Pennsylvanians from needless tragedies,” Briggs said. “Gun violence continues to devastate families and communities across our Commonwealth.” 

“These bills represent thoughtful, reasonable approaches to reducing illegal trafficking, saving lives, and supporting law enforcement—while fully respecting the rights of responsible gun owners under the Second Amendment. I thank my colleagues for their leadership and their commitment to tackling one of the biggest public safety challenges facing Pennsylvania.”

The bills approved by the committee include:

• House Bill 1099 (Prime sponsors: Reps. Morgan Cephas and Malcolm Kenyatta): Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or possession of undetectable firearms, including 3D-printed weapons and those without serial numbers. 
• House Bill 1593 (Prime sponsor: Rep. Perry Warren): Closes loopholes by requiring background checks for all firearm purchases, including long guns. 
• House Bill 1859 (Prime sponsor: Rep. Jennifer O’Mara): Creates Extreme Risk Protection Orders, also known as “Red Flag Laws,” allowing courts to temporarily restrict access to firearms for individuals in crisis.
• House Bill 1866 (Prime sponsors: Reps. Mandy Steele, Benjamin Sanchez, Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz): Bans devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into machine guns (e.g. Glock switches).

Of all of these, the only one that could feasibly make sense is the full-auto switch ban, if it were really a full-auto switch ban. It’s not.

The text of the bill states:

“Machinegun conversion device.”  A part or combination of parts designed and intended to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic firearm to simulate the rate of fire of a machinegun.

That reads to me like it’s a bump stock ban, because there’s a huge difference between making a weapon into a machine gun and making it shoot really quickly as if it were one.

The ban on guns without serial numbers means that a whole lot of collections are going to be illegal if this passes, since those guns are technically “ghost guns” as they were made before serial numbers were required. I’ve got a couple that meet that definition. One was bought by my paternal grandfather and one by my maternal great-grandfather. They’re old, they’re not something I’ll even consider shooting–one is chambered in an obsolete round, for crying out loud–but they’re pieces of my collection.

That bill doesn’t seem to have any allowance for those guns, either.

In fact, across the board, these are all vile.

The only saving grace is that there’s a GOP majority in the state Senate. They can block this from happening, but the margin is only four seats. If a few switch sides, that changes. Then we’re looking at them passing by one vote. That’s not great for folks in Pennsylvania, to say the least.

The key, of course, is to make sure your voices are heard. If you live in Pennsylvania, call your state senator and make sure they know where you stand on this.

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