Catherine Alloway

Port Matilda

It is disheartening and frustrating to see how the partisanship of our state legislature compromises the safety of Pennsylvania’s citizens. Ideological and cultural differences about the role of guns is keeping Republican legislators like Sen. Chris Dush and Rep. Kerry Benninghoff from protecting residents of Centre County.

State Republicans continue to block common sense safety laws, such as a bill regarding electronic gun registration that has bi-partisan sponsorship and support from law enforcement agencies. Republican state legislators are against banning devices that make semi-automatic guns into lethal machine guns, and other reasonable gun safety measures.

It’s tough for public officials to balance the interests of all constituents, but there comes a time to prioritize community well-being over the party line. Reasonable gun safety laws will not harm our culture of hunting, nor unreasonably infringe on the right to own firearms. Instead, such laws make lethal weapons less accessible to those with violent or suicidal impulses and unsupervised children.

It’s time for Republicans to listen to the majority of Pennsylvanians, including many in our region, who support the prevention of gun violence. Protect your people, not your party.