Activists ready effort to push for tougher gun laws in Pa.

    About 100 gun-control activists from across Pennsylvania started laying the groundwork to push for stricter gun laws at a gathering in Harrisburg to go over messaging and organizing tactics.

    Shira Goodman, head of Ceasefire PA, says her advocacy group remains committed to advancing state legislation to expand background checks requirements to minimize the chances guns will land in the hands of the mentally ill or people with a criminal history.

    “We think they could do that this fall, certainly by the end of this session next year,” she said Friday. “Now there are other things that will take longer that we know that Pennsylvania might not be ready to do yet.”

    Goodman says the group also supports a measure requiring lost or stolen guns to be reported to the police.Such proposals have been introduced in the past, but attracted more attention in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting last year.

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    Gun-rights activists, in turn, proposed measures to counteract such efforts, including a bill to render unenforceable any federal laws restricting firearms.

    No gun-related legislation has been voted out of committee in the state House or Senate this year.

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