MEMORANDUM
| From: | Representative Stephen Kinsey and Rep. Carol Hill-Evans |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Prohibiting Weapons at Public Demonstrations |
| The right to express, promote, pursue, and defend one’s beliefs is fundamental to a functioning democracy. Civics teaches us that we should be able to exercise this constitutional right peacefully, but current law does not guarantee this. Citizens participating in public demonstrations, marches, speeches, picketing, and vigils are always vulnerable to threats of violence. As we have seen in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the possession of firearms and other dangerous articles during a public demonstration presents a clear and present danger to not only law enforcement and other first responders but also to people who participate in and attend public demonstrations. To preserve the safety of those exercising their right to peacefully assemble, our legislation would make it unlawful for a person participating in or attending a public demonstration to possess a firearm or other dangerous article. Please join us in supporting this important legislation that preserves one of the most basic principles of our democracy and keeps public demonstrations safe for all Pennsylvanians. House of Representatives Session of 2023 – 2024 Regular Session ********************************************************************************* MEMORANDUM Posted: January 11, 2023 01:11 PM From: Representative Stephen Kinsey and Rep. Manuel Guzman, Jr. To: All House members Subject: Encoded Ammunition With more than three-quarters of homicides in Pennsylvania involving firearms, it is more important now than ever to ensure that the individuals responsible are found. Far too often, all that is left for police to find is a victim and a bullet – untraceable, unidentifiable, and barely useable in finding the offender. Bullets could be more than just ammunition, however. Encoded ammunition, with specific numbers, could give our law enforcement officers a way to solve more of these despicable crimes. Our legislation would help our law enforcement officers track down these criminals by requiring ammunition manufacturers to encode ammunition provided for retail sale. It would also require manufacturers to provide ammunition serial numbers to the state police, who would then keep a database on all encoded ammunition sold in the state. Finally, a tax of five cents per round of ammunition would be imposed on all non-law enforcement ammunition sales, with some individuals able to file for a tax return credit of 0.5 percent of the gross amount paid. As legislators, we must do everything we can to protect our communities. When gun violence threatens our constituents and their loved ones, there can be no more standing by. Please join us in supporting this legislation and ensuring that we have the tools necessary to convict individuals who use their firearms for unlawful, dangerous purposes. ********************************************************************************* MEMORANDUM Posted: January 11, 2023 11:18 AM From: Representative Mike Zabel To: All House members Subject: One Handgun a Month / Ending Illegal Firearm Trafficking in Pennsylvania Each year, numerous guns are trafficked throughout the United States via the Iron Pipeline, a system of states with weak gun laws that allow individuals to obtain firearms via illegal means, like straw purchases. With roughly 8,850 crime guns traced to Pennsylvania in 2020, and 431 alone supplied from our state to New Jersey, our place in the Iron Pipeline cannot be ignored. My legislation aims to combat this problem by placing a limit on purchases of handguns in Pennsylvania, allowing one handgun per person within any 30-day period. Exceptions would be made for licensed firearm dealers, licensed collectors, law enforcement and correction facilities, licensed private security companies, antique firearms, and stolen firearms. In addition, it would create a pathway for citizens to earn advance permission to purchase more than one gun during the 30-day period. Fines or fees from violators would be deposited into the Violence Prevention Fund and be used for police grants to prevent gun-related injuries. We must accept that we have a responsibility to end the illegal firearm trafficking taking place in Pennsylvania. I ask that you please join me in taking the first step to prevent more reckless gun trafficking – we cannot continue to allow Pennsylvania guns to put at risk the lives of men, women, and children across the nation. |
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