Delco pols lead charge in battle vs. domestic abuse
Pennsylvania is about to become a little bit safer place for victims of domestic abuse.
And they can thank the bipartisan efforts of Delaware County legislators.
The state Senate Wednesday approved a package of bills that takes aim at loopholes in current state law when it comes to firearms and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Under current law, a person convicted of domestic abuse or who has a final Protection From Abuse order entered against them has 60 days to surrender their firearms. And they can do so to a relative or a friend.
Legislation passed this week will require abusers to surrender their firearms within 24 hours, and do so to law enforcement or a licensed gun dealer. Too often in the past, an abuser with the ability to get his or her hands on a gun has done so – often times with deadly results.
The state Senate Wednesday passed the package of bills, which had already won approval in the House. The measure now goes to the desk of Gov. Tom Wolf, who is expected to sign it.
The push for this crucial legislation started last spring with Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, who sponsored the push to get guns out of the hands of abusers. After it was passed unanimously by the Senate, it got bogged down in the House. This time legislation passed the House first, then went to the Senate. This time the vote was 43-5.
“Victims of domestic abuse have been living in fear of gun violence for far too long,” Killion said. “This legislation will get guns out of the hands of abusers. It will protect women, children, men and the law enforcement community during dangerous domestic disputes. This bill will save lives.”
Another measure was sponsored by state Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield. It will allow victims of abuse to ask for an extension of a PFA if the abuser has been incarcerated within the past 90 days.
McGarrigle noted the ongoing nature of the fight against domestic abuse.
“It’s a process, and a sometimes imperfect one,” the senator said. “When we can identify a way to reduce the potential for this violence, and do so within the parameters of the Constitution, I believe we should do so.”
It’s often said the path that legislation takes in Harrisburg is an equally imperfect process. Not this time.
This is commonsense legislation that carried bipartisan support. Just a few weeks ago, state Reps. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-161 of Nether Providence, Margo Davidson, D-164 of Upper Darby, and Jamie Santora, R-163 of Upper Darby, stood side by side on the steps of the Media Courthouse urging their counterparts in the Senate to approve the measure.
The need for the legislation could not be any more clear, driven home by recent events right here in the region.
An Upper Chichester woman was shot several times by her longtime oppressor, an abusive ex.
And in Chester County, pent-up rage in a domestic incident boiled over into a deadly rampage. Bruce Rogal first opened fire on his exwife in the driveway of their former home, which had just been awarded to his ex-wife the day before when their divorce decree became final. He then drove to a nearby retirement community, where he fatally shot his mother and father. He later led police on a high-speed chase that finally ended when he slammed his SUV into his ex-wife’s home and then took his own life.
Advocates for abuse victims hailed the measure.
“It took a long time, it was a slow process,” said Deb Marteslo of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “It’s a mind shift here in the Capitol, but it happened and we’re deeply grateful. The winners here are the victims of abuse.”
“I’m glad that Pennsylvania is joining the ranks of states that are doing something post-Parkland, post-Sandy Hook, post-everything,” said Shira Goodman, executive director of CeaseFirePA, a gun-violence prevention group.
Twenty-nine other states, including Texas, already require people convicted of domestic violence to turn in firearms and prohibit all people under domesticviolence restraining orders from having firearms.
Passage of these bills marks a huge step for Pennsylvania’s ruling body, which long has been seen as a very gun-friendly ruling body. The Legislature has routinely rejected efforts to rein in gun rights, including efforts to expand background checks.
Back in March, the Senate negotiated changes with the National Rifle Association that cause the powerful gun lobbying group to drop its opposition to the measure. But it still got bogged down in the House. Some groups sought changes in the time period for when an abuser must surrender firearms.
The bottom line is that some of society’s most vulnerable victims are getting new safeguards. They will be protected in that very dangerous period after one party reports another to law enforcement or seeks a restraining order.
This was good, commonsense legislation that will protect victims and target criminal action, not innocent gun owners.
And it has the fingerprints of Delaware County legislators all over it.
Well done.