Posted: | December 22, 2022 10:54 AM |
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From: | Senator Katie J. Muth and Sen. Carolyn T. Comitta, Sen. Judith L. Schwank |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Firearms Safety Training |
We will soon reintroduce legislation to ensure that an individual receives proper training prior to purchasing or receiving their first firearm. Our legislation would require that first time firearm owners receive training in areas of safe handling and storage of firearms, suicide awareness, child access awareness, domestic violence awareness, road rage awareness and prevention and safe interaction with law enforcement while carrying a firearm. This was previously SB 855 from the 2021-2022 session. According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Center for Injury Research and Prevention:
We have already seen dramatic results from mandatory training courses. A hunting training course has been available in Pennsylvania since 1959; in 1982 it became mandatory for hunters to take the course prior to getting a license for the first time. As a result, there was about an 87 percent reduction in unintentional shootings in the hunt field between 1982 and 2015. We hope to achieve similar outcomes with this legislation. Having good information and training for the proper handling and storage of firearms keeps firearm owners, their families, and others, safe. We hope you will join us in co-sponsorship and continue to encourage responsible gun ownership in Pennsylvania. |
Introduced as SB281