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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 5, 2022 04:48 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Christopher M. Rabb |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Protecting Pennsylvanians and Good Faith Firearms Dealers |
| The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “We need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in.” My forthcoming legislation is an innovative, evidence-based approach to tackling the gun violence epidemic well upstream from other interventions to address this crisis from the supply side. As gun violence rages on, the flow of illegal firearms, whether stolen or lost, has continued to plague our communities. Research shows that this flow transcends county and city boundaries. In fact, most firearms recovered by law enforcement originate in counties surrounding the urban centers where we’ve seen the most gun violence. And with over 2,500 federally licensed firearm dealers in Pennsylvania alone, now is the time to look at how our current law fails to stem this dangerous tide. Thus, this forthcoming bill centers on the critical need for a unified statewide approach — because individual counties cannot implement these compliance measures in silos. My bill aims to reduce gun violence in two ways. First, it would subsidize efforts of the Attorney General’s Office to incentivize law enforcement agencies to report the firearms they seize by 1) encouraging and supporting such submissions, and 2) assisting counties and municipalities to conduct inspections of licensed firearm dealers to ensure they have properly stored and secured firearms sales records, similar to federal law. Second, it would establish stronger regulations for licensees to report firearm thefts, 1) introducing fines if a firearm used in a crime was not reported stolen, and 2) introducing stricter regulations for firearms dealers within a certain distance of metro areas with high rates of gun violence. In addition, my legislation would allow for random inspections of licensed dealers in these areas and consider firearms held in consignment to be inventory, including them in any mandated TRACE data. As legislators, we have a duty to identify and resolve issues that put the lives of our fellow Pennsylvanians in danger. By better regulating firearm theft reports, establishing random inspections of dealers, and encouraging our counties and municipalities to conduct inspections regarding properly stored and secured firearm sale records, we can do our part in promoting deeper community safety in every county in Pennsylvania. Please join me in co-sponsoring this common sense legislation to stem the increasing gun violence in our cities. |
Introduced as HB2928