The Reporter
By Linda Finarelli
June 26, 2016
Senate committee may consider universal background checks
Two days after 49 people were gunned down in Orlando, Fla., three bills sponsored by state Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery County, to reduce gun violence sailed through the House.
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If a person is involuntarily committed to a mental health institution, that facility is currently required to send records to the state police, Stephens said. “That was the biggest gap,” because information on convicted felons was already being sent.
“Ninety days is an awful long time to wait if a mentally ill person is intent on harming themself or somebody else,” state Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-Delaware County, said.
Stephens’ bills “don’t go far enough around gun safety,” she said. “It’s great that they passed, but the bills that would really have an impact on keeping people safe in Pennsylvania have been tied up the [House] Judiciary Committee without any movement.”