Democratic state legislators went into one of the most conservative counties in the Pennsylvania and announced plans to submit a package of bills on gun control during a day-long special session of the House on crime near the end of the month. The state issues about 1 million hunting licenses each year. As a result, gun control legislation has been hard to pass because most legislators represent the rural areas of the state where there is a high rate of gun owners and sportsmen.
Legislative proposals would include limits on the sale of handguns to one per month; a ban on military-style assault weapons statewide; additional funding for police and police equipment; and a requirement that gun owners report a lost or stolen firearms within 24 hours.
Democrats are pushing the legislation forward as a result of new polling data showing that suburban residents have a concern with gun violence. The poll shows that 80 percent of rural voters said they support a statewide limit on handgun purchases to one gun a month. Nearly 75 percent of the Republican voters surveyed supported the one-gun-a-month limit as well. The group of Democrats were led by State Representative Dwight Evans of Philadelphia.
There have been more than 260 homicides in Philadelphia this year, and more than 1,200 shooting victims, Evans said. More than 80 percent of the city's homicides were committed with guns, according to statistics on the city's Web site.
With momentum for gun control at a high level, this may be the best shot Democrats have to establishing gun control in the state. Some critics say this legislation may not be the best option, but Democrats understand that reform takes time and are trying to fix the problem instead of just recognizing that there is one.
http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/09/d...comments005167
October 18th, 2006
Democratic Law Makers Rally for Gun Control
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