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Between 2018 and 2022, around 1,600 Pennsylvanians were killed by guns each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To help drive up ideas that can reduce the death toll, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to bring back the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which was first established in 2019.
The office will be housed under the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which is chaired by Lt. Gov. Austin Davis.
“I think this is going to make Pennsylvania a real leader in the space and taking on gun violence here,” he said.
The office will create an advisory group of violence protection advocates, survivors, behavioral and health care practitioners, law enforcement and more.
“I think the best solutions that we come up with in government come out of collaboration,” he said. “I think that’s going to be a real space for people to be seen, to be heard and for us to recognize what’s working and what’s not and have an honest dialogue,” he said.
The office will also create a gun violence prevention plan and collaborate with state agencies to educate the public on firearm safety practices, such as safe storage.
Adam Garber, executive director of Ceasefire PA, praised the administration’s tackling of gun violence in the state.
“The administration is really thinking creatively about the tools that they have in front of them to save Pennsylvanians’ lives, and that’s critical,” he said.
Statewide, fatal shootings are down nearly 24% from last year, according to the Center for American Progress. And in the state’s most populous city, Philadelphia, fatal shootings are down 39% from 2023, according to the city’s controller.
Democratic Sen. Amanda Cappelletti represents parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties in the Philadelphia suburbs.
She is also a chair of the PA Safe Caucus, which works on legislation to reduce gun violence.
She said she appreciates the push for research and analysis for gun violence prevention strategies.
“We’re not able to really use a lot of public funds to investigate this issue, to research this issue and find and develop data on this issue,” she said.
However, she said, more needs to be done.
“People should know that life doesn’t have to be this way,” she said. “In fact, in many, many other countries and those that even have firearms as part of their culture, it is not this way.”
Many bills seeking to reduce gun violence have stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This includes two bills establishing universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders. The committee chair, Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, was unavailable for comment.
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