Tom Waring, the Wire
State Rep. Steve Santarsiero unsuccessfully fought for a full debate and consideration of his “No Fly, No Buy” bill to prohibit persons on the federal terror watch list from buying a gun in Pennsylvania.
In a weeklong procedural battle, Santarsiero attempted to bring House Bill 1770 to a vote in the House.
Santarsiero’s actions, referred to as a discharge resolution, were supported in the Judiciary Committee by Rep. Madeleine Dean, who argued that moving the bill from the committee to a full House vote was the fastest — and possibly only way — to start a legislative conversation on gun safety in Pennsylvania.
“In the end, the House voted against the vast majority of Pennsylvanians and Americans who want common-sense laws to protect citizens from extremists easily buying weapons of war,” Santarsiero said.
“We had a chance in Judiciary to hold hearings on common-sense gun safety legislation with HB 1770, but the bill has languished and the Judiciary chairman outright refused to hold a vote. The bill, and many other gun-safety measures like it, deserve a vote and certainly a debate. The thousands of victims of gun violence deserve a vote. We will not cease the pressure to bring about change in the commonwealth.”
