Peduto, Frankel want local communities to be able to enact gun laws

With gun crimes surging in Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto and state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, led a group of community leaders speaking out Thursday against state laws preventing municipalities from enacting their own gun laws.

Appearing before media gathered under a tent in Schenley Park, Peduto and Frankel expressed frustration at having their hands tied by the legislature when it comes to passing gun reform ordinances they see as addressing specific community needs.

“The reality here is that Pennsylvanians are dying, communities are suffering, and we can do something about it,” said Frankel. “If the state legislature can’t look at the evidence and act to protect the public when it comes to firearm regulation, it needs to get out of the way and allow local officials to keep their residents safe.”

Rep. Dan Frankel discussing proposed legislation that would enable municipalities to pass their own gun ordinances currently limited by PA's preemption law. He's appearing with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, among others, in Schenley Park. pic.twitter.com/yEzKzzuhtk

— Paul Guggenheimer (@PGuggenheimer) June 3, 2021

Frankel has proposed two pieces of legislation, spurred in part by the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shootings, that would allow cities like Pittsburgh to pass their own gun reform ordinances by removing the so-called preemption language from the state law. Such language prohibits Pennsylvania cities from enacting gun laws.

There have been 27 homicides in the city so far this year, 26 involving firearms and 46 non-fatal shootings in the last three months alone, according to statistics provided by the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety,

The numbers are part of a roughly 80% increase in homicides and a 90% increase in shootings when compared to the same time last year.

Peduto said he heartily supports Frankel’s legislation, pausing as he spoke to ask for a moment of silence to remember victims of gun violence.

“Far too many of our neighbors’ lives have been stolen in mass shootings and neighborhood gun violence,” said Peduto. “Cities like Pittsburgh have taken bold action to prevent gun violence, but we need help from Harrisburg to keep our residents safe and prevent tragedies. Do not take away the right of local elected officials to protect their people.”

The City of Pittsburgh has passed laws prohibiting assault weapons, firearms modifications and certain ammunition as well as an Extreme Risk Protection Order that would allow family members to petition courts to temporarily remove firearms from someone who poses a danger to themselves or others. However, they have been blocked by the preemption law.

The City of Pittsburgh recently filed a legal brief in support of the City of Philadelphia’s legal challenge to the state preemption law.

“There’s not one lawsuit against us about Second Amendment rights because the Second Amendment rights aren’t being affected,” said Peduto. “We are simply saying the right of people in elected roles at a local level to protect the people that they serve outweighs the state’s right to preempt those laws.”

Peduto and Frankel were joined by Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor, Councilwoman Erika Strassburger and state Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, who referenced the four students in the Penn Hills School District who died in recent weeks: three to gun violence and one to a drug overdose.

“It breaks your heart and not having the ability to prevent this is what’s most frustrating,” said Costa. “Lost and stolen guns, universal background checks, red flag legislation are simple measures that we can’t even get out of a committee in Harrisburg.”

Costa said with the legislature coming back into session later in the month there is an opportunity coming up to advance such measures.

“Given what’s been taking place this year, what we’ve seen across our region, what we’ve seen across our country, we have to take steps and hopefully we can get these measures moving forward very soon.”