Key Issue: Gun Safety

Tai announces package of gun safety bills (July 31, 2018)

The Gun Violence Archive website defines a mass shooting as FOUR or more [people] shot and/or killed in a single event [incident], at the same general time and location, not including the shooter. As of July 31, 2018, there have been 202 mass shootings in the US, killing 213 people and injuring 825[1], including the massacre of 17 children and adults at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. The United States has on average more than one mass shooting a day[2]. Every year, 114,994 people are shot and 33,880 people die from gun violence[3]. That’s the equivalent of almost eleven 9/11’s every single year. A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University on February 20, 2018[4] showed that 97% of Americans (including gun owners) want universal background checks, 83% favor a mandatory waiting period for all gun purchases, 67% support a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, and 75% say that Congress needs to do more to reduce gun violence. Despite these overwhelming facts, state and federal legislatures have repeatedly refused to implement effective gun safety laws.

Because of the failed leadership in Harrisburg, a myriad of gun safety bills are stuck in committees and not coming to the floor of the House for debate. There is a bill implementing universal background checks for gun purchases (HB1400), a bump stock ban (HB1872), a bill banning terrorists from purchasing weapons (HB528), and so many other commonsense reforms that are being blocked by the politicians in Harrisburg. The children, parents and grandparents who live in Bucks County deserve those reforms
  
Helen supports the rights of individual gun ownership and the right to self-defense provided for by the 2nd Amendment AND she also supports common-sense legislation that protects the public. On July 31, Helen announced a package of gun safety bills to prevent people who have no business accessing a gun from doing so.

• HB2597 requires gun owners to safely store firearms if a person who cannot legally possess a firearm lives in the owner’s residence.
• HB2598 requires gun owners to safely store firearms when not under direct control of the owner.
• HB2599 requires gun owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm within 24 hours of the discovery of the loss or theft. 

Helen will also make the following a priority: 

1. Preventing known and suspected terrorists, those convicted of violent hate crimes and those with a history of domestic abuse from legally buying guns,
2. Ensuring that background checks are required on all gun sales, including online and at gun shows.
3. Preserving the provisions of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) which provides instant access to background records,
4. Funding research into the effects of gun violence and gun safety technology,
5. Banning the sale of bump stocks, assault weapons and high capacity magazines

[1] http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/us/how-often-do-mass-shootings-occur-on-average-every-day-records-show.html?_r=0

[3] http://www.bradycampaign.org/key-gun-violence-statistics

[4] https://poll.qu.edu/images/polling/us/us02202018_ugbw51.pdf/