House Bill 777, a lifesaving piece of legislation to prohibit the sale of ghost guns, was passed by the Pennsylvania State House on Wednesday. The bill was introduced by Representatives Morgan Cephas (D-192) and Malcolm Kenyatta (D-181).
Ghost guns are homemade firearms that may be assembled with untraceable parts not requiring a background check. This lack of traceability hinders police investigations and Pennsylvania currently lacks any laws to regulate the firearm that have become favored by criminals.
“Ghost guns are far too easily obtainable in Philadelphia and in our neighboring municipalities, leading to day-to-day gun violence in our communities that has no end,” Cephas said. She noted that it’s imperative for the state to act on gun regulations because municipalities are prohibited from doing so by state law and that the passage of the legislation “is a significant step to help address the issue for our local governments.”
“By removing dangerous and untraceable guns from our streets we move closer to that goal,” Kenyatta said. “It’s about saving lives, ensuring that people who shouldn’t have firearms don’t have them and restoring hope and peace in our city.”
The Pennsylvania chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, applauded the Pennsylvania House for passing the lifesaving bill.
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“We can all agree that nobody should have access to an unregulated, do-it-yourself firearm if they would be otherwise unable to pass a background check,” said Jessica Haines, a volunteer with the Pennsylvania chapter of Moms Demand Action. “These dangerous ghost guns have become one of the biggest threats to our public safety and we’re grateful to our gun sense champions in the House for recognizing this and taking swift action to pass this bill.”
Larren Wells, a volunteer leader with the University of Pittsburgh Students Demand Action chapter agreed. “My generation has grown up with firearm technology evolving to become even deadlier or to allow criminals to skirt the law, and ghost guns are one of the most dangerous. Today, we’re glad our lawmakers took a major step to keep them off our streets.”Despite the proposed legislation strengthening public safety and aiding police, three Bucks County Republican state representatives voted against the bill: Shelby Labs, Craig Staats, and Kristen Marcell.
The legislation now heads to the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate for debate and a vote, though passage seems unlikely.
Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund (“Everytown for Gun Safety”) is the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with nearly ten million supporters and more than 700,000 donors including moms, mayors, survivors, students, and everyday Americans who are fighting for common-sense gun safety measures that can help save lives. Currently, 13 states, including neighboring New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, regulate ghost guns.
