On a 104-97 vote, Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, with three Republicans joining them, passed legislation which would ban the sale, purchase and transfer of completed firearms and gun parts—so-called “ghost guns” and their components.
According to WGAL News, one Democrat did not vote for the measure—House Bill 777—which now moves to the state Senate, which is under Republican control. If it passes, Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro is almost certain to sign it. In a message on “X,” Shapiro wrote, “Ghost guns are dangerous, DIY weapons criminals can put together in their own home — and I’ve been fighting for legislation like this since I was Attorney General. The State Senate must pass this bill to close the ghost gun loophole, help crack down on the violence in our communities, and make all Pennsylvanians safer.”
HB 777 criminalizes the sale of unserialized guns or gun parts, making it a felony.
Following passage, CeaseFirePA Executive Director Adam Garber released a prepared statement: “Ghost guns shoot, kill, and destroy lives in the exact same way as traditional firearms, but they’ve long evaded even the most basic existing gun safety rules. Today’s vote moves us closer to ending that policy failure and fulfilling our government’s primary duty to keep Pennsylvanians safe from preventable violence.”
Republicans overwhelmingly opposed the measure, despite the three deflections. As noted by WTAE News, Rep. Aaronm Bernstine, a Lawrence Republican, stated, “This is not government questioning citizen’s fundamental rights, this is government removing and interfering and placing burdens on those rights, with a centralized, bureaucratic agency.”
Likewise, WGAL quoted House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler, who warned fellow lawmakers, “The reality is that guns made prior to 1968—many of them do not have serial numbers. This bill would make the simple act of inheriting a firearm from an ancestor, perhaps one that was brought back as a souvenir from World War II, a crime.”
But now the bill faces an uncertain future because of Republican control in the state Senate. Quoted by WGAL, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) said, “We remain steadfast in our ongoing support of law enforcement, leadership of school safety initiatives, and examination of ways to provide greater mental and behavioral health support to help protect our communities. Pennsylvania currently has robust laws in place pertaining to guns, which must be enforced in every corner of our commonwealth.”
