COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

March 22, 2018

The Honorable Lloyd Smucker

US House of Representatives
516 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Smucker:

Earlier this month, we saw American students throughout the country passionately speak
out and demand action in response to the terrifying reality of gun violence in our nation. I write
today to thank you for listening to these students and taking important steps to prevent another
tragedy like the one in Parkland, but also to urge you to take additional action to ban military style
weapons that have been used to commit these heinous crimes.
The omnibus spending bill contains several commonsense, bipartisan measures that, while
long overdue, are a step in the right direction. The STOP School Violence Act of 2018 provides
resources to make our schools safer. Training and coordination between teachers, school officials
and law enforcement, and the development of reporting systems for threats of school violence and
the funding for states contained in this bill are critical tools we need to protect our children.
The Fix NICS Act will help prevent individuals with a history of mental illness or criminal
convictions from buying firearms. Our commonwealth’s background check system – Pennsylvania
Instant Check System (PICS) – is one of the top systems in the nation and federal funding played
an important role in what makes PICS work so well. Not all states and federal agencies have such
an effective system in place and I know firsthand the limited resources governors must work with.
Additional federal funding is crucial.
I am also pleased to see that the bill clarifies that the Centers for Disease Control and other
agencies can conduct research on the causes of gun violence. Medical groups such as the American
Medical Women’s Association, the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American
Academy of Pediatrics have supported this. Even the amendment’s original sponsor, former
Representative Jay Dickey, has said that research would not infringe on the rights of gun owners
and can and should continue because “doing nothing is no longer an acceptable solution.”
As I said, these are steps in the right direction, but they cannot be the only actions taken. It
is not the time to say “we’ve done all we can” and wait for the next tragedy to happen. Now is the
time to ban military-style weapons like AR-15s and dangerous accessories like bump stocks. Law
enforcement officials throughout the commonwealth support these bans. They know that ending
the sale of these weapons will make our communities safer. Had Congress not allowed a ban on
these weapons to expire in 2004, the deaths that have occurred in Orlando, Las Vegas,

225 Main Capitol Building | Harrisburg, PA 17120 | 717.787.2500 | Fax 717.772.8284 | www.pa.gov
The Honorable Lloyd Smucker
March 22, 2018
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Sandy Hook or Parkland may have never happened. These tragedies are becoming far too common.
You must act to prevent another town being added to this list.
I know that these measures will not prevent all tragedies. However, we cannot use that as
an excuse to not act to protect our constituents. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this
incredibly important dialogue. Please feel free to reach out to my office to continue this
conversation.
Sincerely,

TOM WOLF
Governor