We are part of different communities within Pittsburgh, but each of us has been harmed by gun violence. While our communities are damaged in different ways, we agree on a joint set of solutions, a common agenda, which will begin to address this crisis.
One of us is a mental health professional with 30 plus years working with homeless and mentally ill populations. I have worked with many families, convincing a family member to voluntarily surrender firearms which they might use to harm themselves or others. I have also been part of countless cases utilizing Pennsylvania’s “302” process of involuntary commitment, a process which permanently takes away the rights of a person to purchase or own firearms, and is wholly inappropriate for the majority of people who plan to do harm but are not mentally ill.
One of us is a pastor and non-profit leader working in a community that has experienced generational economic and racial discrimination. I have had the heartbreaking duty of burying more African American young men between the ages of 14 and 26 than I can count. In our community, it has been easier for a young person to get an illegal top-of-the-line weapon than a nominal education. Our politicians should have been proactive regarding gun control legislation. Our legislators talk about guns only after mass shootings and take no real significant action to stop the flow of illegal firearms on our streets. Pennsylvania has no laws requiring people to report a lost or stolen gun, or to safely secure a firearm so that it won’t be lost, stolen or used accidentally.
One of us is the state senator for Pennsylvania’s 43rd District, home to the Tree of Life synagogue, site of the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre. In the days and weeks before that attack, the shooter had posted online about his plans to commit a violent act and while he was monitored by the FBI, Pennsylvania does not provide the legal tools to remove a firearm from a dangerous person even if they are threatening to use it against someone.
While gun violence harms our communities differently, we agree that a package of gun-safety reforms can and must save lives. We need universal firearm background checks so that criminals and the dangerously mentally ill cannot obtain weapons. We need extreme-risk protection orders to enable family members or law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily take guns away from people in crisis. And we need mandatory reporting of lost and stolen guns to keep legally obtained weapons from becoming crime guns.
Sen. Jay Costa
Tim Smith
CEO
Center of Life and pastor
of the Keystone Church
of Hazelwood
Greg Engel
Mental health professional
First Published: July 18, 2021, 4:00 a.m.
