|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State
Rep. Dwight Evans |
|
Lost and stolen handgun legislation gets vote on House floor
Supporters say floor vote signals a new era for common-sense handgun policies in Pa.
HARRISBURG, April 1 – Lawmakers from across Pennsylvania today voiced their support for common-sense handgun policies during a debate on the House floor, marking the first time in recent memory that such a measure was argued in public.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. David Levdansky, D-Allegheny, was attached as an amendment to a related crime bill and would require owners of handguns to file police reports if their weapons are lost or stolen. The amendment won the support of 75 members, falling 27 votes shy of passage.
"Although the measure didn’t pass, I’m pleased about the vote on the floor," said Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Phila., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the legislature’s leading voice on the issue of crime and violence as it relates to handguns. "Pennsylvanians support common-sense handgun measures and eventually the legislature will too. This issue will not go away. It will keep coming back."
"Police officers from all over the state want this legislation because it will make their jobs easier," said Levdansky, chairman of the House Finance Committee who is also a hunter and sportsman. "Asking people to notify the police when their handguns are lost or stolen makes sense."
Evans praised the efforts of Chairman Jewell Williams, head of the Philadelphia Delegation, and Chairman Thaddeus Kirkland, head of the Black Caucus, for keeping the issue alive in the legislature and tasking Rep. Cherelle Parker to shepherd the legislation to the floor.
"This was a victory," Parker said. "The advocates are mobilized and organized; we’re making progress among the members and we’ve sent a clear message that we’re not going away. This is simply common sense: if you have a handgun and it’s lost or stolen you alert the police. It’s not complicated."
"The members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus were victorious in getting this measure to the floor for a vote, something that has been extremely difficult if not impossible to do in the past on handgun bills," Kirkland said. "We’re making progress and raising awareness of the issue of illegal handguns across Pennsylvania."
Williams, who initially proposed the "Lost and Stolen" concept to the legislature in a previous session, said he was frustrated the vote failed.
"This isn’t just a Philadelphia problem. People are dying in Pittsburgh, Erie, Allentown, Harrisburg and Scranton," Williams said. "It amazes me that folks in the legislature don’t understand that. Eventually they will."
The vote on the "Lost and Stolen" legislation came just two weeks after hundreds of people gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to urge lawmakers to vote in favor of the Levdansky amendment. The rally was sponsored by CeasefirePA, which advocates for common-sense handgun measures.
Among those at the event were Lynne Honickman, founder of Moms against Guns; Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields; Harrisburg City Council President Linda Thompson; and Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski. Representatives of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia police departments, doctors, mothers and hundreds of advocates also stood in support of the measure.
###jp/2008/mjh
l:'print'releases'Lost&Stolen_vote.203