OP-ED: An opportunity to save lives from gun violence
The grandmother of 12, an usher at her church, shot and killed in the City of Washington while sitting on her front porch listening to music in broad daylight.
The Smith Township father of two, murdered while mowing his own lawn, fired upon by a combative neighbor who previously threatened him and his family with guns, ultimately triggering a SWAT standoff that terrified a quiet neighborhood.
A young artist, his mother’s only son, gunned down in Canton. A 29-year-old fatally shot in the parking lot of a Finleyville tavern after a bar fight escalated, his body later discovered on the side of the road. The 16-year-old who shot his stepfather in South Strabane, inflicting grave wounds with a stolen gun.
These are only a few of the devastating stories of the gun violence epidemic in Washington County, just in 2022. Each incident involves unique human struggles. But all are united by an undeniable fact: these tragedies would be less likely to happen if Pennsylvania had stronger gun safety laws.
This year, we have a unique opportunity in Pennsylvania to pass broadly popular and bipartisan action that will stem the tide of this violence. We cannot miss this opportunity. Lives are depending on it.
As an advocate with CeaseFirePA, the commonwealth’s gun violence prevention organization, I see firsthand the devastation wrought by this public health catastrophe. Every day, I confront the trauma caused by community-based violence that disproportionately impacts Black populations like the City of Washington’s. Too often, I comfort family members whose loved ones made the often lonely and impulsive decision to kill themselves with their gun – a crisis that most directly affects older white men in rural parts of Washington County. And I grapple with the same ever-present anxiety that all Americans now feel while in shopping centers, houses of worship, or schools – that the next mass shooter might strike, just like the horrible attack recently at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California.
One Pennsylvanian dies by gun violence every five hours, on average. We cannot continue living this way. And we don’t have to.
For the first time in 12 years, Pennsylvania is expected to soon have a gun safety majority in the state House of Representatives. They will work side by side with Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis – two champions for gun safety – to advance lifesaving policies that will make all our communities safer from every form of gun violence.
We can prevent many of the 900 firearm suicides in Pennsylvania each year by passing Extreme Risk Protection Order legislation, often called a “red flag law.” This uses due process and civil procedure to temporarily restrict someone’s access to a gun when they are a threat to themselves or others. Connecticut’s law was associated with a 14% reduction in firearm suicides. Polling shows that a broad, bipartisan majority of 80% of Pennsylvanians, including most gun owners, support this policy.
We can reduce the flow of illegal guns that fuel much of the violence in cities like Washington by enacting a basic law to require the reporting of lost and stolen firearms. One study found that these laws reduced traced illegal gun movement by 46% compared to states that do not have such laws.
And we can make it harder for the next mass shooter to get their hands on a weapon of war by closing a gap in our background check system that allows for the private sale of long guns without any vetting.
How can we do this? It’s going to take all citizens of Washington County – Republicans, Independents, and Democrats – coming together in the spirit of keeping each other safe. It’s going to require legislators who are willing to hear the bipartisan majorities of their constituents who support sensible solutions, and refusing to live in political fear of an extremist and out-of-touch minority that cares more about protecting unlimited access to guns than protecting people. It’s going to require honestly acknowledging the overwhelming body of evidence that shows how stronger state gun laws mean less gun violence, and accepting the longstanding legal tradition that these laws are entirely consistent with the Second Amendment and with responsible gun ownership.
But most of all, it’s going to require that every Washington County resident who supports these public safety solutions understand that their voice carries great power in our democracy – and to use that voice. Contact your legislators. Engage in dialogue with your family, friends, and neighbors. That’s how change happens. And we need change now, more than ever.
Will you join us in taking this opportunity to save lives from gun violence?
Josh Fleitman is the Western Pennsylvania manager for CeaseFirePA.