Sens. Steve Santarsiero and Amanda M. Cappelletti, Senate co-chairs of the bicameral PA SAFE Caucus, applauded Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement regarding the agreement that allows law enforcement agencies from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut to share crime gun data across state lines in order to detect, deter, and investigate gun crimes, as well as identify and apprehend straw purchasers, suspect dealers, firearms traffickers, and other criminals.
“The safety of our communities is critically important,” said Santarsiero. “As the gun violence epidemic needlessly rages on, we must take meaningful steps to protect the public and our police officers by focusing our efforts on stopping illegal gun activity.”
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlines the multi-state agreement for reciprocal crime data gun sharing that will establish protocols for officials in these states to distribute relevant information to their counterparts in an effort to decrease gun violence. About 50,000 guns are found to be diverted to criminals across state lines every year, federal data shows, and many more are likely to cross state lines undetected. Every step we take to mitigate that flow will be a step in the right direction.
At the legislative level, Sens. Cappelletti and Santarsiero recommend looking for comprehensive and intersectional measures including:
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.