Americans can be forgiven for suffering from whiplash regarding law and order.
In recent weeks the Biden administration and many news outlets, including USA Today and The Hill, have touted declines in violent crime statistics to argue that America is becoming a safer place.
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A Pennsylvania state senator this week announced she is reintroducing legislation to force gun buyers to undergo three-day waiting periods before they take possession of their firearms.
Senator Amanda Cappelletti (D-Norristown) wrote in a memorandum describing her bill that she believes the measure could reduce both violent crime and suicides. She stated that more than 60 percent of gun deaths are intentionally self-inflicted and said research has shown that many suicide survivors thought about taking the actions they did for less than a 24-hour period.
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Death-penalty abolitionists in Ohio this week are organizing a campaign to persuade lawmakers to end capital punishment in their State.
The nonprofit No Death Penalty Ohio is hosting letter-writing parties in various cities throughout the week in support of a state House bill and an identical state Senate bill to ban executions. While Republicans often support capital punishment and control both legislative chambers, the bills have some GOP support. State Senator Stephen Huffman (R-Dayton) is cosponsoring the Senate measure alongside Senator Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) while Representative Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) is spearheading the House legislation with Representative Adam Miller (D-Columbus).
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One day after the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach home on Monday, agents seized the cell phone belonging to U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA-10), eliciting outrage on his side of the political aisle.
The FBI has refused to comment on the investigation, leaving it presently uncertain what messages or other data the bureau seeks to obtain from the lawmaker’s device. Perry, who represents Harrisburg, York and surrounding communities, has been at odds with Congress’s Democratic majority and Joe Biden’s White House over investigations related to the January 6, 2021 riot and Capitol Building breach. The U.S. House select committee probing the event issued a subpoena to the congressman with which he declined to comply.
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Pennsylvania state Representative Emily Kinkead (D-Pittsburgh) announced on Friday that she will sponsor a bill to require residents to obtain permits to buy guns.
Her legislation is a companion to a Senate measure authored by Art Haywood (D-Philadelphia). The senator began touting his legislation the day after the May school shooting in Uvalde, TX in which an 18-year-old killed 19 children and two teachers.
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State Rep. Darisha Parker (D-PA-Philadelphia) this week began asking fellow lawmakers to cosponsor a bill to raise the minimum firearm purchase and possession age in Pennsylvania from 18 to 21.
The freshman representative cited data from the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence indicating that U.S. residents ages 18 to 20 account for 17 percent of confirmed murderers despite being only four percent of the population. She also noted that those ages 14 to 21 have the highest propensity toward suicide or attempted suicide among all Americans.
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State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) asked colleagues Tuesday to co-sponsor a bill he plans to introduce to let teachers carry guns in Pennsylvania schools.
Under the proposal, teachers who hold concealed carry permits may be armed on school property provided they complete “a rigorous firearms course from a certified instructor.” Similar measures are now in effect in 28 states.
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Connecticut state Sen. Will Haskell (D-Bethel) last weekend took to the airwaves in support of his proposal to limit gun sales in the Constitution State to one per month.
“We know that handguns sold alongside other handguns in a bulk sale, they’re 64 percent more likely to be used in a criminal manner,” he told WCBS News Radio 880. “Most of the hunters in my district tell me that they don’t really purchase more than one gun per month, typically. I hope that they’ll come to the table on a very commonsense restriction that will save lives.”
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A day after the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, Pennsylvania Democrats are calling for more stringent gun control in the state, with state Sen. Art Haywood (D-Abington) proposing eligibility licenses for firearm purchases.
Pennsylvania already administers licenses to carry firearms in Pennsylvania, for which any person who is at least 21 years old and has a clean record may apply.
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