Fighting Gun Trafficking Gets Ensnared In Political Fight

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – When Pennsylvania lawmakers were rushing to wrap up the session’s business in June, aides to state Attorney General Josh Shapiro asked them to expand the office’s authority to pursue gun trafficking crimes statewide.  But it got put aside for the summer amid objections, apparently revolving around law-enforcement turf and gun politics.  The request was to give the office statewide jurisdiction to prosecute illegal gun possession, sales and transfers.  House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rob Kauffman says the change was drawing too many objections to get done quickly.  Calls to respond to gun violence in Pennsylvania have only grown since then, and it’s unclear whether the provision has any chance of becoming law.
Under current law, the state attorney general’s office cannot prosecute gun-trafficking cases without a referral from a district attorney.