Bucks lawmaker introduces assault weapons ban. Can it pass in Pennsylvania?

In the wake of mass shootings in New York, Texas, Philadelphia and elsewhere, state Sen. Steve Santarsiero on Thursday announced legislation that would ban military-style assault weapons in Pennsylvania.

Santarsiero, D-10, of Lower Makefield, said the measure is modeled after a 2013 Connecticut law targeting more than 150 gun models, banning high-capacity magazines and provide a voluntary buy-back program for gun owners.

The Connecticut bill Santarsiero used in crafting his legislation passed that state’s legislature a few months after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, where Adam Lanza used an assault-style weapon to kill 20 children and six adults.

“I’m here to tell you today, we’ve had enough … after these most recent incidents in Buffalo and Uvalde, it’s time we stand up with a single voice and say, ‘Enough. Enough. No one needs to have a military-style assault weapon,’” Santarsiero said from a press conference at the Lower Makefield Township Municipal Building.

Firearm reforms in the New England state have made it one of the strongest states for gun control, Santarsiero said Thursday.

The bill comes just weeks after a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, left 19 elementary school students and two teachers dead after a gunman entered the building armed with an AR-15-style rifle.

One of the deadliest mass shootings to take place inside of a school in U.S. history, the May 24 tragedy was only one of multiple shootings over the past month.

On May 14, a racially motivated mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, left 10 people dead and three other injured as a white shooter used a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle to attack the store in the predominantly Black neighborhood. Eleven of the victims in that shooting were Black.

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The Philadelphia shooting on South Street last Saturday night is said to have started with a brawl between four individuals and investigators have said four guns were used in the ensuing shootout that that killed three and left 11 others injured.

One of the alleged shooters was killed in the shooting, a second alleged gunman was in the hospital as of Monday but authorities said he would not be charged, and a third alleged shooter was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated assault on a police officer. A fourth person is sought in connection with the shooting but was not identified by investigators this week.

Two men who fled to Virginia after the shootings face homicide charges, the DA's office said Thursday.

The wave of gun violence has again pushed gun reform to the forefront of a national debate.

The U.S. House voted 223-204, a largely party-line vote, approving a package of reforms that included raising the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, ban bump stocks and require safe storage of firearms.

The bill, known as the Protecting Our Kids Act, is not expected to pass a vote in the Senate, where Republicans have enough votes to block gun legislation.

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Thursday's press conference in lower Bucks County brought a handful of Democratic senators from southeastern Pennsylvania with a crowd of about 25 local officials and advocates in support of the assault weapon ban.

Nicole Peirce, a Pennsbury School District elementary school teacher, said she became a teacher to make a difference in children's lives, but her job now comes with mental checklist of defensive positions.

"Now my job comes with keeping an eye out for escape routes in case of an attack and keeping handy classroom items like staplers and scissors that I can use for defense if my school becomes the next target," Peirce said.

Peirce added that a growing shortage of teachers has only been made worse by increasing safety concerns over gun violence.

Adam Garber, executive director of CeaseFire PA, added that "commonsense" firearm reforms are not controversial to the public at large but are only divisive in one place: Harrisburg.

"I have never seen energy like this, in this moment, on this issue ... this isn't about the middle. We're in the middle. They're on the extreme," Garber said.

Republican lawmakers have been reluctant to push forward gun control bills, even with GOP-led bills failing to move out of committees.

Sen. John Kane, D-9, said there were nearly 20 bills seeking to address a number of gun violence issues that have languished in committees without any action in a Republican-controlled legislature.

The state lawmaker representing parts of Chester and Delaware counties implored Republican lawmakers to reach out to him to "ensure a safer environment for the children and families in our commonwealth."

"Let's talk about the facts. We can end gun violence now and it's long overdue," Kane said.

Santarsiero added that ultimately the driving force behind the change he and other lawmakers hope to bring will be up to the public demanding change.

"What's different about this is galvanizing the public to rise up and demand action. We in the legislature can talk ... but at the end of the day the power to make this happens rests with the public," Santarsiero said.

Santarsiero encouraged residents to call their lawmakers and find out where they stand on reform and pressed for state lawmakers themselves to make their positions known.

“I’m sure the gun lobby will find this unacceptable. I really don’t care because each and every one of us as citizens when we are working together and in concert have more strength and power than they do,” Santarsiero said.

Garber added that CeaseFire PA is forming a new Bucks County chapter with its first meeting scheduled at 6 p.m. Monday, June 13, at the Northampton Township Library, 25 Upper Holland Road.

More information about the meeting and CeaseFire PA can be found at www.ceasefirepa.org.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Sen. Steve Santarsiero introduces assault weapons ban bill