HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Shapiro administration is promising to make a big push to tackle gun violence in Pennsylvania.
On Tuesday, Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis joined gun safety advocates to promote the highlight the proposed gun violence measures in the budget. The Shapiro administration is proposing to spend $100 million to address gun violence throughout the Commonwealth.
An additional $1 million will be used to start a new government agency called the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
“This office will focus on key areas, like community outreach and technical assistance, coordination with our federal and local partners, as well as addressing the intersections of gun violence with domestic violence, and data, research and evaluation," said Lt. Governor Davis.
Lt. Governor Davis said the new office will work with community groups and nonprofits to tackle gun violence.
Tina Ford, who lost her son to gun violence in 2019, said the investment will go a long way to help prevent families from losing their loved ones.
“I don’t want no other mother to go through this, but we have to stop being enablers," said Ford, the founder of Clairton MOMS (Mothers of Murdered Sons). "We have to confront each other with it.”
Republican State Representative Seth Grove said he is skeptical of the proposed plan. He stressed that prosecutors need to enforce the law and go after those who commit gun crimes.
“Putting $100 million in it when you’re not prosecuting criminals really doesn’t matter," said Rep. Grove (R-York County). "I would list that under government waste.”
Other Republican lawmakers, like Representative Paul Schemel (R-Franklin County), believe there are more effective ways to address gun violence in the budget.
“We know for a fact that increased expenditures on policing will result in less crime, less gun crime, and less dead people on the streets of Pennsylvania," said Rep. Schemel.
Advocates are urging lawmakers to do more to help curb gun deaths across Pennsylvania.
“This is a disease and like any disease, if you let it burn through a community unchecked, it only gets worse," said Adam Garber, the executive director of Ceasefire Pa.