HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives devolved into chaos as a bill that would have outlawed devices that turn a semi-automatic handgun into a machine gun was voted down.
The ban on machine gun conversion devices, or Glock switches, failed on the House floor by one vote as state Rep. Frank Burns (D-Cambria County) joined all Republicans in voting no.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny County) said she introduced the bill in memory of a police chief from her district who was killed by a gun equipped with a switch.
“How can we say that we support police and then turn them out on the streets to face something like this, to face 900 bullets a minute? The answer is that you cannot,” she said.
While Steele said the bill was specifically about switches, Republicans argued the language was too vague and created potential legal issues, noting Steele’s sponsorship memo mentioned a ban on “bump stocks and similar devices.”
The session devolved into a shouting match after state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia) implied the Trump administration was the tyrannical government of which Second Amendment supporters warned.
“For people who want to pretend that they are ‘no tread on me, don't tread on me,’ I would make you aware there's a guy I know who's treading and you all never have anything to say about it,” Kenyatta said, “so save me your self-righteous speeches about standing up for tyranny when you do nothing to stand up for tyranny consistently and constantly.”
Following the vote House Speaker Joanna McClinton warned members that any threats made during the outburst will be investigated.
“It's one thing to give feedback after people speak, or to joke and jest, but it is absolutely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated that any threats are made with the climate in which we're blessed to be alive and serve. Threats will be taken seriously,” she said.
“This is not a game. You can disagree with anyone, but we cannot agree to disrespect each other. We cannot agree to talk down to each other. We cannot agree to use labels and terms that our own children would be disappointed that we're conducting ourselves this way.”