PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — The pain endured by residents of the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh in the past year has yet to faze Pennsylvania lawmakers like Mike Turzai and Joseph B. Scarnati III – not enough to join attempts by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and City Council to stem gun violence.
In the year since a gunman slaughtered 11 congregants because they worshiped at the Tree of Life synagogue, the Republican-controlled state legislature refused to enact strong gun safety laws – as lawmakers in New York, Connecticut and California have done. So Pittsburgh’s politicians took it on themselves.
In December 2018, the mayor and council members announced new ordinances to ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, and enable courts to stop people from possessing firearms if they posed an imminent threat to themselves or others, according to The New York Times.
That could well have been an affront to Turzai and Scarnati, respectively speaker of the House of Representatives and president pro tempore of the Senate. A state law previously imposed by the House and Senate forced an Allegheny County judge to legally massacre the city’s ordinances intended to prevent the future massacre of innocent people.
Once Perduto signed the ordinances last April, three gun-rights groups and three individuals sued.
Common Pleas Judge Joseph M. James wrote in his opinion on Oct. 29, one year and two days after the Tree of Life massacre, that state law “pre-empts any local regulation pertaining to the regulation of firearms.” Years earlier, the legislature thwarted Philadelphia’s enactment of gun safety regulations.
States’ rights are protected by the Constitution, yes, but local rights do not exist. It seems inequitable that the nation’s founders recognized only states’ rights in the very city and state where gun violence runs rampant. It is odd that Philadelphia was Pennsylvania’s first state capital, and now cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading and even Harrisburg, the current state capital, are at the mercy of which political party controls the legislature.
Since late last year, 43 states had preemption laws that block local governments from enacting almost any gun regulation that would extend beyond state law, the Times reported.
Which means those who live in Squirrel Hill, home to the Tree of Life synagogue, are still vulnerable to the kind of trauma that left them emotionally paralyzed a year ago.
“The first week I felt and observed what I learned was called ‘acute traumatic response’,” wrote Rabbi Amy Bardack in a New York Jewish Week commentary. “Every day Jewish Pittsburghers were calling 911, reporting what they thought was a bomb or a gun. Teens were vomiting in class and having panic attacks in the hallways. Children were afraid to leave home, or they didn’t want to be home at all.
“People were not sleeping or eating,” she continued, “or they were doing nothing but sleeping and eating. People were screaming at everyone around them, or they were utterly silent. They could speak of nothing else, or they were unable to discuss the shooting at all.”
In the past month, two men were shot to death less than a mile from my apartment in separate incidents – on the same street where I live. The first homicide occurred in the victim’s own home a month or so ago. Last Friday, Nov. 1, a 23-year-old man was killed outside a bar five blocks from my residence, according to the newspaper The Northeast Times. For those familiar with Northeast Philadelphia, the second homicide occurred at the intersection of my street with Bustleton Avenue, a major highway in the community.
In another Philadelphia neighborhood, a 2-year-old girl was shot to death by a bullet fired from the street into her home. Wednesday night, the ABC affiliate known as Action News reported that a young boy was shot in the back of the head while walking through the neighborhood, though so far he has survived it.
Could these reactions have moved Turzai and Scarnati? Not to mention the remaining Republicans who elected them to their positions in the House and Senate.
The gap in the legislature between Democrats and Republicans narrowed in 2018 and – who knows? – maybe the Democrats will take control of either the House, the Senate or both in 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, is likely to sign sensible gun safety legislation.
Even if we get so lucky, we still have another year to remain vulnerable to gun violence if Turzai and Scarnati continue along the present course. Turzai lives a short distance from Squirrel Hill in the northern suburbs of Allegheny County, which encompasses both Pittsburgh and Turzai’s legislative district. Scarnati represents Potter County and other north-central counties.
Perhaps Turzai and Scarnati will be influenced by the Democratic sweep of five counties in Pennsylvania with a combined population of 2.2 million, roughly one-sixth of people who live in the state. Gun-safety groups could pressure Republicans in the legislature to enact even mild legislation aimed at preventing another Tree of Life slaughter. It might even prevent a Democratic flip of the House and Senate, allowing Turzai and Scarnati to keep their jobs as speaker and president pro tempore.
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia, who on Tuesday seized control of both chambers of the state legislature, are sure to pass gun safety legislation once they take office in January.
The most stringent legislation will not be sufficient whether it is for Virginia, Pennsylvania or any other state. Criminals can still access guns smuggled into Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and elsewhere from states with lax regulations.
That means Congress must pass uniform legislation to help prevent gun violence. Democrats in the House already enacted legislation, but Republicans in the Senate have done nothing and are not likely to do so. Nor would President Trump sign such legislation.
Another year of watching our backs.
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Bruce Ticker is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. He may be contacted via bruce.ticker@sdjewishworld.com