Pennsylvania Lawmakers Push for Universal Gun Background Checks

‘We won’t be able to fight tyranny if the government has a list of everybody who owns a firearm,’ Michael Csencsits of Gun Owners of America said.

Guns are displayed in a store during the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival in Greeley, Pa., on Oct. 9, 2022. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The damage done by criminals with guns was clear on Monday as people who lost loved ones through shootings offered emotional testimony during a Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Hearing promoting universal background check legislation.

Chantay Love recalled her brother Emir Greene’s murder in 1997 at the age of 20. His death was felt by her mother and father, siblings, cousins, aunts, teachers, people on the block and the corner store, and young people at the recreation center, she said.