On August 29, members of Squirrel Hill Stands Against Gun Violence joined a full house of constituents as Rep. Conor Lamb (PA-17) held another Town Hall. After a brief introduction, Lamb took questions from the audience on a variety of topics. The largest number of questions were on gun violence legislation and healthcare. Five questions on gun violence prevention included questions on extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), banning high capacity magazines and a ban on assault weapons. One SHS member, a veteran himself, asked a very powerful question about ERPOs and veteran suicide. While we thank Rep. Lamb for his support of background checks, he appears to believe that supporting background checks (HR8) and closing the 'Charleston loophole' (HR1112) are all that is necessary for him to do. It's not because the Representative doesn't support other legislation that is being squelched in the Senate by Leader McConnell, he has clearly voted for other bills he has no expectation of Senate passage. It's not because Lamb is taking NRA (or any corporate PAC) money - he isn't. Perhaps Rep. Lamb still doesn't understand how important this issue is to Americans on both sides of the aisle, gun owners and non gun owners. We can all help him with this by continuing to call and write his office and show up at his events.
