Rachel Truchil: Gun control will stem homicide uptick

Swedish residents desperately want to complete their surgical training in Philadelphia, according to a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

What unique opportunities, you may ask, does Philadelphia have to offer these young residents that they can't find in their own country, or other cities around the world? It isn't because of a love of cheesesteaks or out of a sense of brotherly love.

The one opportunity these surgeons will find in Philadelphia that they can't get in Sweden or very many other places is a constant supply of gunshot wounds. With 317 people already shot in just the first two and a half months of this year, surgeons around the city have plenty of opportunities to practice.

As Philadelphia trauma surgeons have continued to garner fame as the world's experts on dealing with gunshot wounds, the homicide toll continues to rise. Last year there were 309 people killed by a handgun in Philadelphia, the deadliest year since 1997. Countless others sustained disability because of gunshot wounds.

The epidemic of gun violence is reaching epic proportions, and yet Philadelphia is unable to act because the state government has tied its hands. Philadelphia cannot control the flow of handguns on its own streets because cities within Pennsylvania cannot enact stricter gun-control ordinances than those created in the state gun-control laws.

These current laws allow unlimited purchasing of handguns. This means that "straw purchasers" can legally purchase handguns in bulk and then unlawfully and lucratively transfer the weapons to gun traffickers or other criminals who would not have been able to pass a background check to buy the handgun in the first place or who want to avoid detection. Bulk purchases of guns go unchecked, creating an ample, steady and inexpensive supply of illegal guns for trafficking -- 46 percent of guns used in crime come from these illegal transactions.

Because Philadelphia cannot enact stricter gun-control laws, it can only watch helplessly as gun violence continues to rise. But hopefully not for long.

House Bill 871, introduced by Rep. John Meyers (D-Phila.), proposes to allow Philadelphia the ability to limit handgun purchases and sales.

Under the "One Handgun Per Month" legislation, individuals will only be able to purchase a handgun once every 30 days, providing exception for parties with a need for more guns each month, like gun collectors and law-enforcement agencies. This should ensure that unfair restrictions are not placed on anyone needing multiple guns each month for legitimate reasons.

This legislation does not represent an attack against the right to bear arms. It gives cities in Pennsylvania the ability to control the flow of illegal handguns on its streets, not to deny individuals the right to own a handgun.

With Philadelphia's homicide rate up 11 percent from 2004, it is imperative that HB 871 is passed so that Philadelphia can control the illegal trafficking of guns within the city.

For the sake of the families of the 309 victims to handgun violence, for the sake of Mari Oishi, the Penn student shot near campus, and for the sake of our community's safety, we must strongly encourage our legislators to pass HB 871 so that we can make Philadelphia a safer place for everyone.

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