Mayors including Peduto call on Senate to act on gun bills
Mayor Bill Peduto joined more than 200 U. S. mayors Thursday urging federal lawmakers to return from recess and address gun violence after more than 30 people were killed in two weekend mass shootings.
The bipartisan U. S Conference of Mayors sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D- N. Y., urging them to “immediately call the Senate back to Washington” to vote on two background check bills — H. R. 8 and H. R. 1112 — that passed the U. S. House of Representatives in February.
“The tragic events in El Paso and Dayton this weekend are just the latest reminders that our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them,” read the letter, which was signed by 229 mayors by 5 p. m. Thursday.
A gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, and hours later a gunman killed nine people in a Dayton, Ohio, entertainment district early Sunday morning. Dozens more were injured in both incidents.
Mr. Peduto said that he has been in touch with several mayors, including those in Parkland and Orlando, Fla., who are “part of a fraternity of cities throughout this country that have been the victim of mass homicide.”
In October, a gunman killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
Mr. Peduto said he has spoken to Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley “every day and every night” since the violence in her city Sunday.
“She’s my friend. I worry about her. And then the other thing is that unfortunately you learn lessons going through it, and being able to talk to somebody who had gone through it [ helps]. This is a very real fraternity,” Mr. Peduto said after a ceremony in Pittsburgh’s Larimer section to dedicate a basketball court.
State Sen. Jay Costa, D- Forest Hills, and Rep. Ed Gainey, D- LincolnLemington, who also attended, said they would be willing to return to Harrisburg from summer recess early if Republican leaders would move forward on gun control measures.
“We don’t control the process, it’s controlled by Republicans, and it appears that they’ve been tone deaf as it relates to some of the things that need to be done,
and my hope is that we can have a conversation sooner than later,” Mr. Costa said.
The Legislature is scheduled to return from recess in mid- September.
Some Democrats, including many new progressive lawmakers, have asked Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to convene a special session to deal exclusively with gun control bills. The governor has said he is open to the idea, but only if there is a consensus.
In a special session, Republicans, who hold the majority in both chambers, would still control which bills come up for a vote — and which ones don’t.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have said they do not yet have a consensus how to handle major gun bills. The chairwoman of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee has said she intends to hold public hearings on some of them.
On Tuesday, Mr. Peduto stood alongside Shannon Watts, founder of the national gun control advocacy organization Moms Demand Action, and urged both federal and state lawmakers to vote on gun bills within 30 days.