Loved ones of gun violence victims implore Pa. lawmakers to act, pass laws

Mar. 23—HARRISBURG — Meredith Elizalde pushed gently away from a table in front of her inside a State Capitol hearing room Thursday, taking a deep breath and sinking into the leather chair from which she pushed hard for gun reform.

Gunmen murdered her 14-year-old son last September in a barrage of bullets at the close of a football scrimmage outside Roxborough High School in Philadelphia. Police say Nicolas wasn't the intended target, that he was an innocent victim.

Elizalde, a Philadelphia school teacher, says her son was so much more: Kind and intelligent, an aspiring lifeguard, good student interested in agricultural sciences, animal lover, noted community volunteer, an artist and an athlete.

Whatever the future held for him, it ended in indiscriminate gunfire. It ended in his mother's arms, Elizalde having rushed to clutch her only son as he died of a gunshot to his heart.

"How could you possibly argue against stronger background checks? What could possibly be of higher priority than the safety of our children?" she asked. "Why are we not stopping the flow of illegal guns into the hands of those who would murder children while at school? Why do we accept this as our reality when it is an entirely manmade, uniquely American problem with a solution?"

"I implore this body to act in the best interest of public safety because the Second Amendment does not trump the right to live," Elizalde said, her final words at the hearing met with gasps and applause.

Mothers like Elizalde — and grandmothers, godmothers, fathers, brothers and sisters — gathered in Harrisburg to press lawmakers for tighter gun laws around safe storage requirements, mandated reporting of lost or stolen firearms, eliminating straw purchases, enacting universal background checks and permitting extreme risk protection orders.

A coordinated rally on the Capitol steps with March For Our Lives to mark five years since the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, preceded the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence.

Advocates filled the hearing room and spillovers from the crowd moved to two other dedicated spaces elsewhere in the Capitol to watch a live feed.

The Judiciary Committee had served to block attempts at gun reform when Republicans held the House majority. Democrats now control the lower chamber of the General Assembly, and by only one vote. Bills that once would get no consideration seem destined for floor votes.

Any that pass won't simply sail to the desk for a signature from Gov. Josh Shapiro. Instead, they'd have to pass first through the Senate where Republicans are firmly in control.

"The Legislature has stood by and watched death after death, shooting after shooting, with no action. Today, that changes," state Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery, Judiciary chairman, said.

Dr. Charles Barbera, emergency physician and president/CEO of Reading Hospital, said the Emergency Department treated 100 gunshot victims in 2022, up from 60 three years prior.

"Almost any emergency physician in any hospital would tell you that gun violence is an epidemic," Barbera said.

Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker told of his sister's murder in 2009 and the negative consequences his family suffers to this day.

"I'm on bended knee. I'm asking you. It's not about Ds and Rs," Walker said, referring to political parties and agendas. "Most change is cosmetic. Do the foundational work so the foundation will stand."

Law enforcement: Gun theft, drug crisis an issue

State Rep. Jim Rigby, R-Cambria/Somerset, a former police chief, spoke to the estimated 48,800 firearm deaths and the estimated 106,000 fatal overdoses across the country, citing federal data.

"I see a lot of our drug problem creating a lot of the gun problems we have. We've got to get them off the streets. I don't have a problem with them being in the right hands. It's getting them out of the wrong hands," Rigby said.

York Police Commissioner Michael Muldrow estimated 3 in 4 illegal guns used in crimes in his city began as lost or stolen from lawful owners or through a straw purchase skirting background checks.

One straw purchase investigation conducted over two months led to the arrests of 18 suspects and the removal of 53 illegal firearms from the streets, he said.

"At the end of the day, a lot of this comes down to responsible ownership. And, part of that responsible ownership needs to involve maintaining proper chain of custody over your weapons," Muldrow said.

State Rep. David Rowe, R-Union/Snyder/Mifflin/Juniata, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, warned against mandating theft victims to report the crime, saying potential penalties turn those victims into criminals. He likened the scenario to forcing victims of rape to file reports.

"I just think it's a dangerous precedent to set," Rowe said.

Assistant District Attorney Erin O'Brien of Chester County noted the state has mandated reporter laws to report suspected cases of child abuse.

State Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, and state Rep. Liz Hanbidge, D-Montgomery, each took exception to Rowe's comments. A Republican ally, minority committee chair state Rep. Rob Kaufman, R-Franklin, agreed with Rowe's sentiment but described his approach as the "use of inarticulate words."

"I have to express some concern and real, honestly, disgust with the equivalency that was just made between rape victims and people who do not report lost and stolen firearms," Kinkead said. "Those are not on par."

Kaufman disputed others having likened needing a license to drive a vehicle to regulating firearms, pointing to the right to bear arms in the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions.

"I know it's hard for folks with serious tragedies to relate to that but for many of us, that's where our minds are," Kaufman said.

Jeani Garcia of Allentown, whose son, Kareem Feed, was murdered inside their home in 2012, maintained that laws on vehicles should not be more strict than that for guns.

"This does not remove the rights of gun owners," Garcia said of initiatives like safe storage and mandated reporting. "It gives us the right to be safe from gun violence."