From CeaseFirePA (http://www.ceasefirepa.org):
A month ago parks and recreation worker Tiffany Fletcher was killed in crossfire as she left the Mill Creek Recreation Center. It was the 300th shooting at a recreation center in Philadelphia.1 And it’s why the City tried again to ban guns in parks.2
In hours it was challenged; in days the Courts struck it down. The same issue would happen whether you are playing in Pittsburgh’s North Hill or Allentown’s Valania Park. For years, the General Assembly has refused to allow local leaders to save lives from gun violence.
Kids deserve to be safe. We all deserve to be safe. And, if the General Assembly refuses to act, they must get out of the way of local leaders who are ready. Go to https://act.ceasefirepa.org/a/empowercities to tell your legislator: Stop denying life-saving local action.
Decades ago the General Assembly “preempted” local action to end gun violence. This law has prevented local leaders from passing any gun safety law to rein in illegal firearm trafficking or keep guns away from kids. The leadership would rather have guns in parks and playgrounds than empower local leaders to save children’s lives–or act themselves.
That’s why Rep. Frankel introduced legislation to empower local communities to end this epidemic.3
We’ve seen the results of Harrisburg’s refusal to act. 2020 was the worst year on record–1,752 deaths. These aren’t statistics. They are a child, neighbor, or friend lost forever.
Meanwhile, the evidence has grown that keeping firearms away from places like parks, keeping guns out of the hands of those who wish to do harm, and ending the illegal flow of firearms, will save lives. More than 60 bills along these lines have awaited action for the last two years.
Tell your legislator: “If you won’t act, I want my local leaders to be able to save lives.”
It was time to end preemption years ago. After children and parents, friends and siblings were lost. Before mass shootings destroyed a peaceful Shabbat in Squirrel Hill or township meeting in Grant and an afternoon drive on the Blue Route.
Together, we can enact local solutions to end gun violence.
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