Gun control legislation’s fate uncertain
It seemed a package of gun control measures in the Pennsylvania General Assembly was on life support Thursday.
State Sen. Tom Killion, R-9th Dist., the author of SB 501, said language had been taken out of his bill, put into another and weakened.
“They’ve watered it down,” he said of the House Judiciary Committee, which moved it out for full consideration. “What they effectively did was killed the whole effort.” His bill had two measures. It would require firearms owners who have a protection from abuse order filed against them to
relinquish their firearms to law enforcement within 24 hours. Right now, they have 60 days to turn weapons over to a third party, which could be a friend or family member.
Also, anyone convicted of the misdemeanor of domestic violence will have the time reduced to turn in their weapons to law enforcement from 60 days to 48 hours.
Some said these measures were included in language that made it out of the committee. Killion said similar language was incorporated but it was diluted.
“I’m very frustrated because my bill went over there in April,” Killion said. “It passed (the Senate) 50 to nothing ... If they passed my bill (Wednesday), the governor would’ve signed it (Thursday) and it would be law. Now, we’re going to go into summer with no domestic violence legislation in place.”
The senator said he didn’t understand why there was any delay.
“I don’t see any reason not to pass my bill,” he said.
Spending hours in the Capitol Rotunda Thursday waiting for resolution, Julie Bancroft, director of public affairs for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said she hopes the final version looks like the bill Killion crafted.
“We feel very strongly that the bill needs to be passed,” Bancroft said. “We want something that’s as close to (SB) 501 as possible. We feel very strongly about that bill, it passed unanimously, came over to the House. We have wanted
the content of 501 ... that reflects years of negotiation.”
Bancroft said domestic violence-related deaths due to firearms have been increasing steadily, based on the coalition’s 2017 Domestic Violence Fatality Report.
“The last year in Pennsylvania, 117 people died as a result of domestic violence,” Bancroft said. “Gun deaths related to domestic violence in 2017 were the highest they’ve been in 10 years.”
She said 66 percent of the domestic violence-related homicides last year, or 78,
were a result of a firearm. In 2016, 56 of these deaths were linked to a firearm.
“That is a 37 percent increase from 2016,” she said, adding the overall domestic violence-related deaths themselves increased 15 percent between the two years.
Of those 117, two were from Delaware County – Nicole Katerynczuk and Crystalin Thomas.
Katerynczuk, 40, died Aug. 21 from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot of a Nether Providence business. She was killed by her father, 68-year-old Walter Katerynczuk with whom she lived. He died of a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Thomas, a 26-year-old mother of two, died May 19 after being shot by her boyfriend in her home. Neighbors helped provide information for police who described her as a “kind, sweet, loving lady.”
The anti-domestic violence advocates praised the Delco legislator for his work they said would be effective if formalized into law.
“Sen. Killion has been a phenomenal champion for the bill,” Bancroft said. “We think it’s really, really important and truly has the impact to save lives.”