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City Council To Propose Stolen Gun Law
Reporting
Bob Allen PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Members of Pittsburgh City Council are proposing new legislation that would require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours or face a fine.

It is a move aimed at reducing crime due to on-going gun violence.

It's a bill that targets illegal handguns used to commit crimes.

"We are going to give people now the opportunity to report their lost and stolen guns and we are going to be able to help our law enforcement officials with this new tool, to be able to find those people who are actually selling their guns illegally," said Councilman Bill Peduto.

"The gun that was used to murder my baby was on the street for six years," said Mary Beth Hacke. "Six years after he was murdered, we found out that that gun was used in two other homicides. Three people lost their lives because that gun was never reported lost or stolen."

Hacke lost her 14-month-old son Ryan in 1997, when he was caught in the cross fire of a drug-related shooting in Homestead.

"Each day we pick up a newspaper, we turn on t.v. and there is another shooting," said Hacke.

Officials say many of those shootings were committed by criminals with stolen handguns.

In some cases, straw purchasers buy guns from licensed dealers and sell them to convicted felons or violent young people.

Similar bills were passed in Allentown and Philadelphia.

"Our argument, as was the argument in Philadelphia and Allentown, is that we are not trying to regulate the legal use of handguns, but rather the illegal use of handguns," said Councilman Bruce Krause. "And once a handgun is separated from its owner, it becomes an illegal weapon."

"Any law-abiding person with any kind of common sense is immediately going to let the police know that their handgun is in play. That it is lost," said Peduto.

If passed, anyone who violates the law could face a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail.

"The goal of the straw purchasers is to keep a clean criminal record so they can keep buying," said Dana Finder of Cease Fire PA. "So, I think it is a wonderful deterrent to stop this practice."

The bill will be introduced in city council and be subjected to several public hearings.

Council members say they want to hear from other crime victims.

They are also hoping that municipalities across the state will pass similar legislation in an attempt to get state lawmakers to deal with the issue.