Gun control bills receive mixed response in tight PA House votes

A slate of gun control bills backed by Democrats in the Pennsylvania House received a mixed response on the House floor on Tuesday, with lawmakers passing one bill that would expand background checks for gun purchases in the commonwealth, while defeating two other gun-related bills. 

Lawmakers voted 104-99 to pass House Bill 1593 from Democratic state Rep. Perry Warren of Bucks County that would remove an existing background check exemption for long guns from state law and effectively require background checks for all gun purchases. Three Democrats – state Reps. Frank Burns, Anita Kulik and Jim Haddock – all opposed the bill, while GOP Reps. Kristin Marcell, Joe Hogan, K.C. Tomlinson, Martina White and Craig Williams voted for the background check legislation. However, Democrats faced headwinds on two other bills that they advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee last week. 

House Bill 1859, legislation from state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara of Delaware County, seeks to create a mechanism for Extreme Risk Protection Orders in Pennsylvania that would allow courts to issue orders that temporarily prohibit a person from possessing or buying a gun if that person is determined to be a threat to themselves or others.

All 101 Republicans in the state House voted against the bill. Joining them was Burns, a conservative, pro-gun Democrat who helped defeat the bill, which ultimately failed to pass with a vote of 101-102.

House Bill 1099, legislation from Philadelphia state Rep. Morgan Cephas, suffered a similar fate. The legislation seeks to address so-called “ghost guns” that can be self-assembled using plastics and 3D-printed materials. The bill would make it illegal to “manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer or receive a firearm constructed entirely of a nonmetal substance, or a firearm that does not include at least one major component of a firearm constructed entirely of a metal substance.”

“Modern-day technology is creating a real public safety concern that we must address in this chamber,” Cephas said on the House floor on Tuesday. “This is important now more than ever, given the advancements in plastics and 3D printing technology.” That bill also failed with a 101-102 vote, with Burns joining Republicans to oppose the measure. Republicans framed the consideration of the gun control bills as an infringement on freedoms that would do little to curb violence. 

“Throughout the country, even here in Pennsylvania, additional firearms control measures have not resulted in those who are most dangerous having less access to guns. We’ve seen it nationally and through various states that have tried to implement similar policies to the ones that are being considered here today,” said House Minority Leader Jesse Topper, a Republican from Bedford County. “In my view, the only thing that these restrictions have led to is an infringement on the constitutional rights of Americans who own and use guns legally.”

Gun violence prevention advocates celebrated passage of the background check legislation, but said the day's votes left much to be desired. “Passing a universal background check bill was the bare minimum, closing the final gap in our background check system,” said Adam Garber, the executive director of CeaseFirePA, a gun violence prevention nonprofit. “We applaud the narrow, bipartisan passage of that bill, but we cannot say this was a good day for gun violence prevention. 

“The failure of other common-sense safety measures on the House floor fails all of us,” Garber added. “And in the wake of so many recent mass shootings around this country, we are sickened that 102 members of the Pennsylvania House refused to make us safer.”