Hits, misses on Pa. gun legislation

One thing we know about Pennsylvanians. Keystone State residents love their guns. We are a state of avid hunters and sportsmen.

For some the start of deer season each fall amounts to a state holiday.

We wear our allegiance to the Second Amendment proudly.

So it is not exactly stunning news that our esteemed elected representatives tread very lightly on what might be considered a move to infringe on those rights.

What some refer to as “common sense” gun legislation might be anything but to those who wear the Second Amendment – and their firearms – on their sleeves.

Which might explain what happened to some legislation in Harrisburg this week.

Let’s start with the bad news first.

House Bill 1400, sponsored by Delaware County Rep. Jamie Santora, R-163 of Upper Darby, was “shot” down in the House Judiciary Committee. H.B. 1400 would have mandated universal background checks for all gun sales. The bill would have expanded background checks on gun sales in the state, extending the provision to gun show transactions and bringing long guns under the same umbrella. That includes rifles with barrels longer than 16 inches, shotgun barrels longer than 18 inches and handguns with barrels longer than 12 inches.

Ironically, it comes on the same day a gun show sale was making news, with a Chester man being convicted of buying two handguns at a gun show in Montgomery County for a convicted felon in a transaction known as a “straw sale.”

Santora’s bill failed on a razor-thin 14-13 vote.

There was better news on “bump stocks,” devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire even faster. It was the device of choice used in the mass shooting in Las Vegas, when a gunman rained death down on a crowd enjoying a country music concert.

House Bill 1872 was sponsored by Rep. Madeleine Stowe, D-Montgomery, and Rep. Dom Costa, D-Allegheny. It would add the so-called bump stocks to the state’s list of prohibited “offensive weapons,” which includes such stuff as grenades, sawed-off shotguns and switchblades.

The National Rifle Association opposed both measures, part of a package of bills being reviewed by the Judiciary Committee.

The expansion of background checks – and the inclusion of long guns – is long overdue. This is no longer simply rural neighbors casually selling a favorite shotgun. The omission of a background check on the AR-15 – the favored weapon of choice in the nation’s spate of mass shootings – in private transactions or at gun shows is a big problem. One Santora’s legislation would have rectified.

Still up in the air is a final ruling on one other piece of gun legislation being championed by a Delco legislator.

The Senate already has passed Senate Bill 501, sponsored by Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown. The measure would mandate that anyone with an active protection from abuse order against them surrender their firearms to law enforcement or a licensed gun dealer within 24 hours. Those convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse would have 48 hours to surrender their firearms, instead of the current 60 days.

Killion’s bill was passed unanimously by the Senate and is working its way through a House committee. It was amended into other House legislation and passed by the Judiciary Committee. Killion is unhappy that the House version changed some of the language in the bill and watered it down. It now will be considered by the full House.

Killion said his original measure would “make it impossible for abusers to retrieve their guns and commit further acts of violence.”

We urge the House to concur with their Senate colleagues and pass 501 – the original version proposed by Killion – and send it to the governor, who has said he will sign it.

“Common sense” means different things to different people. Clearly that’s the case in Pennsylvania. But when it comes to these “common sense” gun measures, we believe it means just that.