House
Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearings on Gun Violence
Hearings
to seek input on handgun violence
State lawmakers schedule 11 Hearings.
22 firearm bills have
been filed already.
By Kori Walter
Reading Eagle
http://www.readingeagle.com
State lawmakers plan to look at the handgun
violence plaguing Reading and other Pennsylvania cities
during a series of hearings set to start next week, Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone said Wednesday. The hearings planned by the House
Judiciary Committee include a March 29 session in Reading, said Caltagirone,
a Reading Democrat and the committee chairman.
Six of the hearings will be in Philadelphia, where 406 people were
murdered in 2006.
A site for the Reading
hearing has not been selected.
Caltagirone said his committee is considering an
11-bill package that ranges from limiting the number of handguns people can
purchase to banning certain types of ammunition.
The committee will listen to crime-fighting suggestions from
law enforcement personnel, crime victims and other constituents, Caltagirone said.
“I would like to have an open dialogue with the people in
these communities to find out what their reaction is to what we are trying
to do,” he said. “We don't have all the answers.”
Caltagirone said he already has talked to lobbyists
for the National Rifle Association in hopes of getting the organization's
support for legislation to stop illegal handgun sales.
NRA support is considered crucial to passing any firearms
legislation in Pennsylvania,
which has about 1 million licensed hunters wary of any attempts to limit
gun purchases.
“We are not in the business of trying to take people's guns
away or destroying the Bill of Rights for people to bear arms,” Caltagirone said. “That's not what I'm about. The
illegal handgun sales, the handgun crimes that are being committed, those
are the problems.”
Reading Mayor Tom McMahon, one of several mayors supporting
measures such as limiting people to one handgun purchase a month, also
stressed that point.
“This is not gun control,” McMahon said. “This is about
illegal handguns being used in crimes.”
The Reading
hearing will be the second state committee session in six months on
violence here.
In September, the House Democratic Policy Committee met at Reading Area Community College
to discuss a bill intended to crack down on gangs.
Despite pleas from McMahon and Police Chief William M. Heim
for more help to combat gangs, the legislation stalled in the
GOP-controlled House.
Caltagirone said he's hopeful that the hearings
will lead to legislation being passed now that Democrats hold a one-seat
majority in the House.
“I need to get the evidence that we collect through these
hearings and testimonies and sit down with groups to craft something
meaningful that will get enough votes to pass,” he said.
Contact reporter Kori
Walter at 610-371-5022 or kwalter@readingeagle.com
.
