Share:
Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 27, 2023 09:29 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Frank A. Farry and Sen. Tracy Pennycuick |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Crime Package- Increasing Penalties for Gun Store Robberies |
| Over the past few years, crime has sadly changed in dramatic ways across the Commonwealth. Growth in technology, social media, economic turmoil, and certain lax prosecutors have led to many Pennsylvanians becoming victims to dangerous and violent crimes. We need to ensure our criminal laws are modernized to ensure that criminals are being punished appropriately and law enforcement has the tools they need to keep their communities safe. This legislation below is another piece to deal with the evolution of crime in Pennsylvania. Many communities in our Commonwealth have been the victim of gun store robberies. These kinds of robberies typically spawn further crime as the stolen weapons are used to threaten, hurt, or murder others as well as to support other criminal operations. Many gun store robberies are perpetrated like an organized crime and include co-conspirators to assist them in stealing from gun stores. One of the more disturbing actions is that juveniles are organized by adults to rob gun stores because if caught they face lesser penalties. This happened recently in Bucks County. The prosecutor should have the opportunity to try these juveniles as adults because of the intent that is associated with this crime and since this crime is going to spawn into much more dangerous and potentially deadly crimes in the future. Current law imposes a heightened penalty for the crime of burglary when the intent of the actor is to commit a theft of a controlled substance. My legislation would expand this heightened penalty to apply where the intent of the actor is to commit a theft of a firearm. The bill would also allow for trying juveniles as adults who commit this crime as well as increase penalties for those who conspire to commit this crime. There will also be additional penalties if any of the stolen guns are used in further crimes. This bill will also include a requirement for a one-year retention of video records for gun stores to help ensure those involved in the crime are caught. Please join us in co-sponsoring this legislation to help fight a crime that only spawns more dangerous crimes. |