Thank you for participating in the Heeding God's Call Letter writing campaigns.

Our letters to legislators focus on proposed legislation that we, as members of faith communities in Pennsylvania, urge our elected representatives to support. In 2025, that legislation includes the following:

1. HB 837 Illegal Firearm Trafficking in Pennsylvania the One Handgun A Month limitation on individuals’ handgun purchases (Shusterman – Chester)

An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in firearms and other dangerous articles, providing for limit on handgun purchases; and establishing the Violence Prevention Account.

2. SB 262 P.N. 214 Extreme Risk Protection Orders (Fontana - Allegheny (part))

To empower families and law enforcement to prevent gun tragedies and mass shootings by allowing them to petition a court to temporarily remove guns from individuals deemed to present an elevated risk of endangering themselves and/or others.

3. Prohibition on Sales of Assault Weapons (Santarsiero - Bucks and Kane - Delaware and Chester) No bill number yet. Co-sponsorship memo distributed.

To prohibit the sale, transfer and importation of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

4. HB 1065 Banning Ghost Guns & Prohibiting Undetectable Firearms (Cephas - Philadelphia)

To prohibit manufacture, sale, transfer and possession of parts and kits to make fully operative guns and completed guns that lack important identifiers, like model and serial numbers

5. SB 122 Background Checks for long Firearms (Hughes- Philadelphia (part) Montgomery (part) and Santarsiero- Bucks) Senate Bill 122 closes Pennsylvania’s “long gun loophole” by requiring background checks on all firearm sales and transfers — not just handguns. This commonsense measure ensures that rifles and shotguns are held to the same safety standards.

6. Reporting Lost and/or Stolen Firearms (Sanchez - Montgomery and Kenyatta - Philadelphia (part)) No bill number yet. Co-sponsorship memo distributed.

To require any owner or other individual lawfully in possession of a firearm who suffers the loss or theft of a weapon to report it to law enforcement within 72 hours of the discovery