Synagogue tragedy inspires talk of gun laws reform

In honor of Groundhog Day, stop us is you’ve heard this before.

Harrisburg is once again talking about tougher gun laws.

But this time it could be different, for a couple of reasons.

Gov. Tom Wolf, with guncontrol advocates at his side, led the charge Tuesday in calling for new measures to beef up the state’s laughable gun laws.

All the regular groups were there, including several highprofile organizations, such as CeaseFire PA and Delaware County United for Sensible Gun Policy.

But there was another group represented that cast a much larger shadow over the state Capitol. The rally came just three months after a truck driver walked into a synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood in Pittsburgh and opened fire. Before he stopped, 11 people were fatally shot. Another seven were wounded.

The rampage inside the Tree of Life synagogue was the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Along with mass shootings at a church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015, and another in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017 it cemented the jolting reality that not even our places of worship are immune from gun violence.

Wolf, who has long supported gun control measures, seized on that theme.

“It is not just synagogues in Pittsburgh that are at risk,” Wolf told the rally. “It’s churches in Lancaster, it’s mosques in Allentown, it’s schools in Erie, it’s movie theaters in Johnstown, it’s concert halls in Philadelphia, colleges in Scranton and even streets in Harrisburg.”

Wolf and gun control advocates come to the latest battle with a little more ammunition, if you will. For years the National Rifle Association has held sway in Harrisburg, swatting away one measure after another. But there are signs its grip could be loosening.

In the last session, Sen. Tom Killion, R-9th Dist, led the charge in getting a bill passed that would bring about needed change in getting guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

The bill would require a person convicted of domestic abuse, or with a final protection from abuse decree against them, to surrender their firearms to law enforcement or a registered gun deal, not just to a friend or family member.

It is precisely the kind of meaningful change the NRA successfully turned away so many times in the past. Not this time. It marked the first time in more than a decade that legislation dealing directly with firearms made it to the governor’s desk.

A bill has been introduced in the Legislature that would once again seek to expand background checks for gun sales in Pennsylvania. It also would target the longtime bane of Pennsylvania gun control advocates, the loophole in state law that provides an exception from background checks on private sales of shotguns, sporting rifles and semi-automatic rifles.

It is commonly referred to as the “gun show loophole,” and it makes about as much sense as allowing a convicted domestic abuser to turn over his or her firearms to a friend.

There are also moves to address assault weapons and limit the capacity of gun magazines. An “extreme risk protection order” would allow a law enforcement member or family member to seek the immediate seizure of a person’s firearms.

No one is advocating repealing the Second Amendment. No one is trying to take away the right to own firearms. No one is coming to take your guns.

The Second Amendment is not going anywhere, nor should it. We understand the concerns of the state’s legions of hunters and those who own firearms for their own protection.

What is needed are legitimate safeguards against people possessing firearms who should not have them, particularly when dealing with those with mental health issues.

It is an old argument, one that’s been spoken many times in Harrisburg. Maybe this time the Legislature will hear it — while the reverberations from that dark day inside a Pittsburgh synagogue are still fresh in our minds.

No one is advocating repealing the Second Amendment. No one is trying to take away the right to own firearms. No one is taking your guns.