Public Safety Committee Discusses Gun Resolution

The West Chester Borough Council Public Safety Committee discussed adopting a resolution on Tuesday to ask the state to pass a law that would require gun owners to report missing firearms to authorities.

The law would ask that gun owners notify the police in the event that a firearm goes missing so that the police could look for and track that firearm.

“I believe that it’s a common sense approach to the safe use of legal guns,” said West Chester mayor Carolyn Comitta.  “This resolution would raise awareness of the issue and send a message to the state.”

The resolution has the support of West Chester Police Chief Scott Bohn as well as the support of several national and international law enforcement entities including the Pennsylvania State Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association.

According to the resolution, states that adopt a gun reporting law see a nearly two-thirds reduction in illegal gun trafficking. 

States that have adopted these laws include Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio.

“It’s something we can do,” said committee member Chuck Christy.  “It’s a common sense thing, and it has the support of our chief.”

Since 2000, 24 police officers have been shot and killed in the line of duty in Pennsylvania, and another 1,200 residents of the state are killed every year due to gun violence.

Authorities believe that a reporting law would cut down on the number of illegal guns and therefore the number of gun crimes.

“This law isn’t targeted at your average gun owner,” said Tom Buglio, a representative from the gun-control organization Ceasefire Pa.  “It is trying to stop people who buy hundreds of guns at a time and distribute them illegally.  It’s aimed at traffickers.”