PRINTER'S NO. 1180
No. 162 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY BISHOP, YOUNGBLOOD, WILLIAMS, BLACKWELL, OLIVER,
LEACH, WATERS, JAMES, DONATUCCI, ROEBUCK, LEDERER, BEBKO-
JONES AND KIRKLAND, MARCH 21, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 21, 2005
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States to reenact the Federal
2 ban on manufacture and sale of semiautomatic assault weapons.
3 WHEREAS, Semiautomatic assault weapons are military-style
4 guns designed and manufactured for the sole purpose of killing a
5 large number of people in a short period of time; and
6 WHEREAS, Semiautomatic assault weapons are the weapons of
7 choice for many criminals and have facilitated the commission of
8 some of the United States' deadliest crimes, including a 1989
9 schoolyard shooting in California, the 1999 massacre at
10 Columbine High School in Colorado and the 2002 sniper attacks in
11 the area surrounding Washington, DC; and
12 WHEREAS, According to FBI statistics, semiautomatic assault
13 weapons were used to kill one in five law enforcement officers
14 slain in the line of duty in the United States between 1998 and
15 2001; and
16 WHEREAS, In 1994 the Congress, recognizing the grave threat
17 posed to public safety, banned the manufacture and sale of
1 certain semiautomatic assault weapons; and
2 WHEREAS, The assault weapons ban was enacted on September 13,
3 1994, as Title XI, Subtitle A, of the Violent Crime Control and
4 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322, 108 Stat.
5 1996), which also provided for automatic expiration of the ban
6 on September 14, 2004; and
7 WHEREAS, The assault weapons ban did not affect firearms
8 designed for hunting and other legitimate sporting uses; and
9 WHEREAS, Appellate courts and former United States Attorney
10 General John Ashcroft determined that the assault weapons ban
11 was permissible under the Constitution of the United States and
12 did not infringe on the constitutional right to bear arms; and
13 WHEREAS, Semiautomatic assault weapons should be completely
14 and permanently eliminated from our streets and our communities;
15 therefore be it
16 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
17 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress to reenact the
18 ban on semiautomatic assault weapons; and be it further
19 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to the
20 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
21 United States House of Representatives, to Senator Arlen Specter
22 and to Senator Rick Santorum.
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