Pennsylvania House Passes Background Checks; Two Bills Fail

The Pennsylvania House narrowly approved House Bill 1593, a universal background-check measure that would require checks for all firearms including long guns, by a 104–99 vote. Two companion bills — one to create Extreme Risk Protection Orders (a red flag law) and another to ban ghost/3D-printed guns lacking metal components — were each defeated by a single vote after Democratic Rep. Frank Burns broke ranks and voted with Republicans. The votes underscore the difficulty of advancing gun reforms in a chamber with only a one-seat Democratic majority and several members from conservative districts. Supporters said the background-check bill closes longstanding loopholes and could help reduce roughly 1,600 gun deaths in Pennsylvania each year, while opponents argued the measures would erode Second Amendment rights or duplicate existing law. The background-check bill now goes to the Republican-controlled state Senate, where passage is considered unlikely.