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Pennsylvania earns 'C' grade for gun safety laws

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Pennsylvania earns 'C' grade for gun safety laws

Incomplete background checks and a lack of local regulations earned Pennsylvania a “C”’ grade in a national ranking of state gun safety laws.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence last week released its annual gun law scorecard, which ranks every state by the strength of its gun laws on an A to F scale.

Pennsylvania’s C score is a better ranking than more than half the nation — 25 states received F scores — but is still worse than 11 states. The law center also noted the 10 states with the highest rate of gun deaths; Pennsylvania wasn’t on that list.

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A nonprofit organization formed in 1993 to research and overhaul gun laws, the law center creates the rankings by examining state gun laws and assigning various point values to policies based on importance, said Laura Curtilletta, legal director for the center.

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Since 2010, when the center began the rankings, states with A or B scores regularly have lower rates of gun deaths than other states, she said.

“We find every year a significant correlation between stronger gun law states having lower gun deaths and vice versa,” she said. “So we’re trying to bring attention to the fact that gun laws work.”

Pennsylvania received points for requiring a background check on handgun sales, for conducting background checks through the state police when a licensed dealer sells a gun, and for requiring dealers to obtain a state license in addition to a federal license, she said.

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However, the state does not require background checks for long gun purchases and does not require gun owners to report when a gun is lost or stolen, which cost points, Ms. Curtiletta said.

Pennsylvania also lacks a mechanism to temporarily remove guns from someone who poses an extreme risk to himself or others, Ms. Curtilletta said.

First Published: March 2, 2018, 10:40 p.m.
Updated: March 3, 2018, 1:36 a.m.

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