New Pa. congresswomen join gun-violence panel

The state’s four incoming congresswomen have joined the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force for the upcoming Congress, saying they are committed to making changes on gun policies.

Reps. Susan Wild of the Lehigh Valley and Mary Gay Scanlon of Delaware County, who were sworn in early due to their special election wins, and Reps.-elect Madeleine Dean of Montgomery County and Chrissy Houlahan of Chester County will all be involved in that panel next year.

“Voters across our region called for a commitment for us to do what previous Congresses have failed to do: confront America’s epidemic of gun violence,” the congresswomen said in a statement. “This is a problem that has left our communities exposed to incredible heartache and tragedy and that continues to take tens of thousands of American lives every year. We are committed to leading on major gun violence reforms and helping keep our communities safe.”

The four freshmen lawmakers have called for legislation on universal background checks, federal research on gun violence prevention, and limits on large-capacity magazines. The incoming Democratic majority is expected to bring up several bills on gun control.

Legislative efforts to toughen federal gun laws in the wake of mass shootings have repeatedly fallen short on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Senate has taken three major rounds of votes on gun-control legislation since Sandy Hook, with none — including one before Republicans won back control of the Senate in 2014 — producing a bill that could clear the chamber.

But a Democratic-controlled U.S. House could affect the gun debate in the Senate, where Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey’s bill with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on expanding background checks hasn’t found a path forward.

“The big difference is, will the House do something? And I suspect the answer may be yes,” Toomey said last month, after speaking on the Senate floor about the October mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. “It creates a dynamic that makes it more likely that we would react to that. It’s not by any means a given. … That does change the dynamic.”

— Laura Olson