Lost or Stolen Handgun Reporting
From east to west and north to south, from big cities to small towns, from urban areas to rural countryside, Pennsylvania cities, towns and boroughs are taking action in support of a commonsense reform which assists police officers in tracking “straw purchasers”— people who buy guns legally, and then sell them illegally to people who are legally prohibited from possessing firearms. Reporting a lost or stolen handgun missing allows law enforcement officers to begin searching for a missing gun before it winds up at a crime scene. By passing local ordinances and adopting local resolutions, to-date 45 cities and towns across the state have sent a message to the General Assembly that they want safer, commonsense statewide gun laws.
Lost or Stolen Handgun Reporting At A Glance
Myths & Facts About Lost or
Stolen Handgun Reporting in PA
Legislative Roll-Call on Lost or Stolen
How did the legislators that represent your community vote on Lost or Stolen Handgun Reporting? CeaseFirePA supports the passage of lost or stolen as a statewide reform. Below is the roll-call vote recorded in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in April 2008 on the Levdansky Amendment. This lost or stolen handgun reporting bill was named after its sponsor, Rep. Dave Levdansky, D-Allegheny/Washington. The vote was 76 votes in favor, and 127 votes against. Even though the amendment did not pass, the vote was unprecedented as it was the first recorded vote on a gun violence prevention bill in the PA House in more than a decade. And the vote on the Levdansky bill also gave CeaseFirePA and advocates for reform on the gun issue something strategically important: A roll call vote, so we know where every legi
slator stands on this common sense step to help police crack down on illegal guns.
How Did Your Representative Vote?
Levdansky Amendment, The Lost or Stolen Handgun Reporting Bill
Voter Education
CeaseFirePA is educating voters on where candidates for elected offices such as governor, mayor and the General Assembly stand on key gun violence prevention issues, including lost or stolen handgun reporting, closing the gun show loophole and expanding the Gun Violence Task Force. Most recently, CeaseFirePA surveyed the six gubernatorial candidates and all legislative candidates in the Pennsylvania Primary 2010 and subsequently produced the CeaseFirePA 2010 Voters Guide: Where Do the Candidates Stand on Gun Violence? and a List of Approved Candidates for the PA House and Senate Races. T he questionnaires and results can be viewed in the documents below.
CeaseFirePA’s 2010 Voters Guide
Letter to the Gubernatorial Candidates
Pennsylvania Governors Questionnaire
Gun Violence Enters the Governor’s Race News Release
Approved Candidates for PA Legislative Primaries
Court Decisions
CeaseFirePA is advocating for stronger gun laws in the General Assembly, and also in Pennsylvania’s courts. There have been several favorable rulings in PA courts in support of local lost or stolen reporting laws.
PA Supreme Court Decision on Philadelphia Lost or Stolen Handgun Reporting Ordinance
PA Commonwealth Court Decision
Allegheny Court of Common Pleas Decision on Pittsburgh Lost or Stolen Handgun Reporting Ordinance
Testimony & Public Commentary
CeaseFirePA offers public testimony in cities and towns across the state and also in the PA General Assembly on gun violence prevention policy. In addition, a number of prominent PA mayors have been speaking out in support of stronger gun laws.
CeaseFirePA Testimony in Support of Lost or Stolen Handgun Reporting
CeaseFirePA Testimony in Opposition to the Castle Doctrine
CeaseFirePA Letter to President Obama in Opposition of Tiahrt Amendment
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s Speech: With the Ballot, We Can Stop the Bullet
Polling & Reports
Our public opinion polls show that 96 percent of Pennsylvanians favor lost or stolen handgun reporting—and, two-thirds support reasonable handgun safety laws. A recent national poll conducted by Frank Luntz, a conservative pollster, reported that 78 percent of NRA members and 88 percent of gun owners were also in favor of this commonsense step to help police crack down on illegal gun traffickers. Please see the complete studies and their finding below.
2007 Statewide Pennsylvania Poll—Performed by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
2006 Statewide Pennsylvania Poll—Performed by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
University of Pennsylvania: Link Between Gun Possession and Gun Assault Study
Please contact CeaseFirePA for more information on any of the above research or policy documents.
