Area Politicians Advocate For Safe Storage Firearm Legislation

In light of the one year anniversary of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that occurred February 14 in Parkland, Florida, Democratic State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, Democratic State Rep. Perry Warren, and former State Rep. Helen Tai joined students and gun safety advocates in front of Council Rock North High School in Newtown Township to call for the passage of legislation advocating for the safe storage of firearms.

Santarsiero is the primary sponsor of both Senate Bill 137 and Senate Bill 138. SB 137 requires the safe storage of a firearm when the gun owner resides with a person who may not lawfully possess a firearm; and SB 138 requires safe storage regardless of who resides with the gun owner.

Santarsiero, Warren’s predecessor in Harrisburg, has proposed gun violence prevention legislation in the past. At the time, he offered legislation to require background checks on all gun purchases.

“I know this has been a long and often frustrating road for those of us who have been working on this issue for years now. But as we stand here today on the first anniversary of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, we must rededicate ourselves to this task. There have been 377 mass shootings since then, 20 alone here in Pennsylvania, including the murders at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Enough is enough,” he said.

State Rep. Warren introduced House Bill 532, which mirrors Santarsiero’s SB 137. Montgomery County Democratic State Rep. Tim Briggs is the primary sponsor of House Bill 525, requiring the safe storage of firearms in homes where children may be present.

“It’s time to stop this culture of gun violence,” Warren said. “It’s time to take concrete steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who will do with them harm. It’s time to stand up for our schools, for our children, for our families and communities, and I’m proud to be here today with my colleague to do this.”

Samantha Duckworth, a senior at Council Rock High School North, talked about her experiences as a young student growing up around the constant school shootings across the country.

“It’s scary to go to school,” Duckworth said. “It’s scary to live with the fear that you might get gunned down one day in your classroom. A year ago at Parkland, something changed for a lot of students. We saw ourselves in the faces of the students who died that day. Marjory Stoneman Douglas School is a lot like Council Rock North. The teachers there are a lot like our teachers, the students there are a lot like our students, and the classes they have there are a lot like our classes, so that day for a lot of us we realized this really can happen to us.”