00:00 - The following program is sponsored in part by

00:03 - customer's bank.

00:13 - A representative Tim Briggs majority chair of the pa house

00:17 - judiciary committee

00:19 - you have a bill about the safe storage of firearms

00:22 - why did this

00:24 - issue become important to you.

00:26 - Face Larry for for having me on and talking about this issue I've been working on

00:31 - on the safe storage concept

00:33 - since i first got elected

00:35 - sixteen seventeen years ago

00:37 - i had young kids and they had friends

00:40 - in the neighborhood that they'd go over to

00:42 - to to play with

00:43 - and my wife and i would would talk about.

00:46 - You know

00:47 - them being safe in other people's homes and the more we started talking about it

00:51 - i thought it would be a good requirement

00:53 - and

00:54 - a storage effort in the law

00:57 - i think responsible firearm owners do keep their weapons secure

01:02 - but

01:03 - you know it's a hard conversation to have when

01:04 - you're when your kids are going over someone's house

01:07 - of the more and more we started looking into the issue

01:10 - you started hearing every couple of weeks every couple of months

01:13 - the awful incident of an accident

01:16 - about.

01:17 - Suicide kids playing with a gun

01:20 - and shooting

01:21 - or their friend

01:22 - or

01:22 - sibling

01:23 - so i think it's just trying to encourage

01:26 - more responsible ownership of firearms like i said i know a lotta people do

01:31 - use them responsibly and secure them

01:33 - but

01:34 - just trying to

01:35 - to

01:35 - encourage it

01:36 - and

01:37 - advocate for it advertise at retail stores

01:40 - and also providing a sales tax credit

01:43 - to allowing when people want to buy.

01:46 - Gun locks gun safes

01:48 - and

01:49 - that they wouldn't be paying

01:50 - sales tax on those items so the bill does have a couple of different things

01:54 - well yeah representative let's get into the

01:57 - things that the bill

01:58 - would require of Pennsylvania and

02:00 - as far as the storage of firearms is concerned.

02:04 - Great so the the the the main thing of what i am trying to do

02:08 - is just educate encourage incentivize folks to

02:12 - securely safely responsibly store their firearms in her house

02:17 - so.

02:18 - That that's that's the goal right so you're you're you're you're one of them

02:21 - you want them safe

02:22 - then to get them to do but you know we've we've a

02:26 - we

02:27 - the bill

02:27 - puts a sales tax exemption so if you go to a store you buy

02:31 - a gun a lot but gun safe

02:33 - not going to pay sales tax

02:34 - if you go and buy a firearm.

02:37 - At a store

02:38 - the bill would require the firearm dealer

02:40 - to have a sign

02:42 - saying that is the law to safely.

02:45 - Stored securely store

02:47 - your firearm when you're home

02:49 - and

02:49 - enters or some protection so if it's

02:52 - if it's stolen somebody breaks into your house steals the firearm uses it

02:56 - you're not you're not

02:57 - liable for that as an affirmative defense

03:00 - we've tried to take in concerns people have had with this concept of

03:05 - of requiring folks just securely store there's

03:08 - you know it's not trying to punish them

03:10 - it's trying to encourage

03:12 - good behavior.

03:13 - Responsible behavior and if there's there's an

03:16 - accident if somebody takes the firearm and it's used.

03:21 - Then

03:21 - they will be civil liable to

03:23 - the owner of the firearm so if that

03:26 - somebody somebody gets a hold of a gun you didn't have a

03:28 - securely stored

03:30 - and is used an accident or a crime

03:33 - then

03:33 - you could be civilly on the hook

03:35 - represented before you go any farther what forms have a specific security

03:39 - would be approved

03:41 - under your belt trigger locks for example yeah so trigger relax if it's on you

03:47 - know if you're if you

03:48 - are in possession of it that's that's.

03:51 - Your responsibly in control of it then that is

03:54 - that's

03:54 - your that's that's what we want right if it's

03:56 - if it's within your proximity

03:59 - you know if it's if it's on your nightstand and and you're reading a book in bed

04:03 - that's that's within your control

04:05 - if you're not home or if you're not

04:08 - able to be in control of it

04:10 - then we're looking for.

04:12 - A trigger lock

04:13 - gun safe something that could reasonably.

04:17 - As

04:18 - to

04:18 - assure

04:19 - that someone else isn't going to be able to get their hands on it

04:22 - so it's it's it's very common sense very appropriate

04:26 - like i said most responsible gun owners.

04:29 - Securely store their firearms

04:32 - were just trying to

04:33 - encourage more and more people

04:35 - and if there is an offense

04:37 - it's a summary offense it's it's it's

04:39 - the mightiest of offenses that you could could get.

04:43 - Would be a summary

04:44 - now if if a child accesses it

04:47 - then it's at the lowest of the misdemeanors misdemeanor three

04:51 - wood so we're not

04:52 - trying to over criminalize this we're just trying to

04:55 - to encourage the the behavior

04:57 - and if it unfortunately you know

04:59 - if it's if it's used and there's an accident or or or choosing a crime

05:04 - that you could be

05:05 - more

05:06 - were

05:06 - severely.

05:08 - Punished

05:09 - representative i just want to make sure our viewers understand so there it sounds

05:12 - like there's an exception in your bill

05:14 - for keeping a gun within close proximity

05:17 - for the purposes of self to fence right

05:20 - sure that that's what we

05:21 - are trying to protect we're trying to listen to folks why why they didn't like the

05:25 - the concept of this and largely it was for self defense

05:29 - and

05:29 - if you're sleeping with it under your

05:31 - pillow i dunno if people do that

05:33 - but that's in your proximity that's

05:35 - reasonably you know

05:37 - what it had to start having to defend yours

05:39 - sounds like what a reasonable standard would be of

05:41 - no use

05:42 - you don't want to put yourself in the position that it wasn't reasonable

05:45 - but

05:46 - you know that the ideas for self defense

05:48 - you i don't want

05:49 - you know i'm trying to be sensitive right to

05:52 - to those concerns

05:53 - and if it's wit on on your

05:55 - body within close proximity

05:58 - those are or language that we've added to the bill over the years

06:01 - to try to make it more palatable

06:05 - trying to address some concerns

06:06 - i i

06:07 - think it's a good idea

06:08 - but i do always try to look for some common ground and

06:11 - trying to that's why we added the sales tax exemption

06:15 - try to be more reasonable try to encourage folks to

06:18 - to to be

06:19 - doing this or trying to really just change.

06:23 - You know trying to

06:24 - legislate some

06:25 - what we think responsible

06:27 - is right it's not

06:28 - i don't want to maybe i don't want to criminalize this

06:31 - just want people to to be safer at home and

06:33 - and hopefully

06:34 - read less stories about

06:36 - about accidental shootings less stories about teen suicide using firearms

06:42 - there

06:42 - things that you know there's people that

06:44 - unauthorized purchasers of firearms shouldn't get their hands on it and

06:48 - you know that that is

06:50 - but that's what the concept of the bill is all about

06:53 - let's talk about your colleague representative Kaufman now he's a republican and he

06:58 - voted against the bill but of course here in the majority

07:01 - and the bill did pass

07:02 - but never the less representative coffin said of the bill that he voted against

07:06 - that it will invariably delay a person's ability

07:10 - to respond to a threat

07:12 - what do you say to representative government.

07:14 - I mean

07:15 - i i don't i don't buy that i think these

07:17 - even you know if it's on your price your body

07:19 - or proximity i don't think that's a delay

07:22 - even the the guy one saves you know the

07:24 - biometric guy

07:26 - handles

07:26 - all those things are.

07:29 - Seconds second

07:30 - or the other it's it's it's no no delay at all but that's

07:34 - i i'd be open to continuing to have conversations on how to

07:38 - to strengthen this and address concerns unfortunately in the world of of

07:43 - of.

07:44 - Responsible gun safety legislation

07:47 - and

07:48 - you don't really have those kind of back and forth exchanges.

07:52 - So we try to listen to what we're hearing

07:54 - and we try to make modifications on the bill

07:56 - i

07:57 - don't have all the greatest ideas in the world i

07:59 - listen to people who are smarter than me i try to

08:02 - try to learn learn from others and come up with a policy that i think makes sense

08:07 - my my goal is to keep kids safe

08:10 - and i don't want accidental shootings that i don't want

08:13 - these firearms

08:15 - being used by

08:16 - suicide if if at all possible

08:19 - but i do understand

08:21 - the self defense

08:22 - aspect of it and that's one we added some

08:25 - some

08:25 - additional language for.

08:29 - You within within the proximate

08:30 - of your reasonable proximity of your of your person

08:34 - just a minute ago you talked about modifications

08:37 - to the bill and penn live did report that this bill

08:41 - is more lenient that was the word they used

08:44 - than similar bills in years past so for you

08:47 - what's the most significant difference it's.

08:50 - Why i think the the the the

08:52 - keeping it within your proximity is as it is a big takeaway and

08:57 - trying to get people to you know i don't want.

09:01 - Someone who is

09:02 - using it for self defense.

09:05 - Having to you know keep it in a gun safe in

09:07 - the in the basement or something like that now

09:09 - that's not what the intent of this is

09:11 - it really is when you're

09:13 - when it's not in your control.

09:15 - When you're when you're out of the house you know

09:18 - you are when you're when you're a little bit away

09:20 - and

09:21 - you know maybe maybe you're downstairs watching TV and it's upstairs in your bedroom

09:26 - it should be it should be secure so.

09:29 - That exactly think what they what they are taking it is a different approach we

09:32 - talked to a lot of folks who have done this in other states.

09:36 - Trying to kind of

09:37 - best practices and trying to

09:39 - trying to land on a spot that i think could become law and and b

09:43 - be

09:43 - a positive

09:45 - and

09:45 - you know back in the day when i was in the minority i was the minority chairman a

09:49 - long time would introduce bills and i knew there were never going anywhere

09:52 - when you get into the majority realise you have to

09:55 - you have to kind of fine tune your your approaches and trying to make them.

10:01 - More more more

10:02 - realistic

10:03 - so representative

10:05 - our time is limited representative so now that your bill

10:08 - has passed the house

10:10 - what happens to it now

10:12 - well we have to keep advocating i don't think the senate wants to

10:17 - consider.

10:18 - Topics like this currently

10:20 - so we'll we'll keep working on all of our bills

10:23 - that are such priorities for so many of the

10:25 - the house Democratic members make sure they're key

10:28 - I'll keep fine tuning them keep making sure they are

10:31 - dry listening to the concerns we we hear

10:34 - and trying to get good policy in place so when there is a time

10:38 - it'll hopefully soon when the senate will be

10:41 - interim

10:41 - in bringing up issues like this they're

10:43 - they're ready to go and be implemented into law

10:46 - representative Tim Briggs majority chair

10:49 - of the pa house judiciary committee thank you very much.

10:53 - Thank you Eric.

10:57 - Hmm.

11:06 - Wow.