Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., left, is competing against Democrat Scott Wallace, right, in Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district in suburban Philadelphia. Both candidates have supported gun control measures.
Matt Rourke / Associated Press
How the debate over guns is playing out in four Pa. swing districts
In races across the state, health care is getting more attention
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Ed Mahon
Matt Rourke / Associated Press
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., left, is competing against Democrat Scott Wallace, right, in Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district in suburban Philadelphia. Both candidates have supported gun control measures.
In a suburban Philadelphia district, advocates for tighter gun laws split with national ones over whether the incumbent Republican or his Democratic challenger would be best for their cause.
In southcentral Pennsylvania, an ad showing Army veteran and Democrat George Scott burning a semi-automatic rifle helped him in his narrow primary victory in May. Now, Republicans are trying to use that same ad against him.
But across the state, other issues — most notably health care — are getting more attention in campaign ads than guns.
The congressional races in Pennsylvania highlights the fractured landscape for efforts to address concerns over gun violence, one year after a mass shooter in Las Vegas killed 58 people and eight months after 17 students and staff members were killed at a Florida high school.
In a recent POLITICO/AARP poll, 54 percent of Pennsylvania voters surveyed said guns were very important to their vote in November for U.S. Senate and House races. But health care ranked higher.
“Health care seems to be, other than the president, the issue in this cycle, even more so than the economy, and I think much more so than gun control,” said Chris Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Lehigh County.
Still, Shira Goodman, the executive director of CeaseFirePA, said she thinks firearms are getting more attention this year than in prior elections.
Her organization doesn’t endorse in congressional races, but she said more candidates from both parties in races for state Legislature sought the group’s endorsement than in past years.
“I’m just pleased that people are talking about it, and voters are talking about it, and the candidates are being forced to talk about it,” Goodman said.
Here’s a look at how the gun issue is playing out in four swing congressional districts: in suburban Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, southcentral Pennsylvania and Erie.
Nationally, Democrats are targeting all four of these races in their effort to take back the U.S. House. And candidates in three of those races have televised debates scheduled for today and Friday.
Different debates on guns in different areas is a part of life in Pennsylvania, a state where it can take about seven hours to drive from Philadelphia in the southeast to Erie in the northwest.
But this election season, a new congressional district map has put more areas of the commonwealth in play for Democrats, and those contests offer a test for what kind of message on guns can work.
Bucks County
In June, the group Giffords endorsed Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County. Giffords supports increased gun restrictions.
The organization called Fitzpatrick “a leader in the Republican caucus on the issue of gun safety.” And it praised several parts of his record, including his support of expanded background checks, an increase in the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle, a ban on bump stocks, and gun violence restraining orders.
But in July, members of another group in Bucks County — Moms Demand Action — urged their national leaders to not endorse Fitzpatrick.
“PA01 is a huge swing district,” they wrote, “helping to elect Fitzpatrick (if you endorsed him) would be an incredible disservice to our country and would crush our ability to have better gun laws.”
But earlier this month, those national leaders did endorse Fitzpatrick — the only Pennsylvania Republican to get their backing.
Members of Bucks County Moms Demand Action cited the endorsement as contributing to their decision to dissolve the group, although Mother Jones reported that a spokesperson for the national organization said there were still many volunteers in the area.
Either way, there was a clear split, and Pennsylvania advocates in another group, Orange Wave – Vote for Gun Safety, have been backing Democratic challenger Scott Wallace.
Wallace has embraced the issue of tightening gun laws.
In an April ad, Wallace called for universal background checks and a ban on “assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.” He referred to President Donald Trump’s support for arming teachers “idiotic.”
And earlier this month, the Wallace campaign rallied with Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland, Fla., shooting.
The district: The race between Fitzpatrick and Wallace in the 1st Congressional District is expected to be one of the closest in the state, according to forecasters who have labeled it a toss-up. The district includes all of Bucks County and parts of Montgomery County.
Other ratings and endorsements: Both Fitzpatrick and Wallace have received the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction.
The Newtown Action Alliance endorsed Wallace.
And both candidates get an F from the NRA.
Lehigh Valley
Republican Marty Nothstein and Democrat Susan Wild clashed over the gun issue and the Second Amendment in a debate earlier this month.
Wild, an attorney and former solicitor for Allentown, said some of her family members own guns, and she believes “in the right to self-defense, and sporting, and hunting.”
But she said lawmakers need to address gun violence and approve universal background checks.
Matt Rourke / Associated Press
Democratic congressional candidate Susan Wild poses for a photograph as her dog Zoey looks on in Bethlehem, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018.
“Ninety-five percent of the people in this country believe that universal background checks are in order,” Wild said. “So the only people who oppose it, most likely, are those who are interested in committing crimes. I think if we don’t do something, we risk a world where our children cannot feel safe to go to school.”
Nothstein said hunting and shooting are an important part of his life and that everybody has a right to protect themselves. He accused Wild of downplaying her position on guns.
“I have an A rating from the NRA. She has an F rating from the NRA,” Nothstein said. “You know, they just don’t hand these things out.”
Wild’s response?
“I was unaware that the NRA had given me a rating at all, and I don’t know why they would, since I have no record on it,” she said. “But I guess it’s because I’m not willing to take their money.”
On Wild’s campaign website, she also calls for raising the minimum age for gun purchases and banning bump stocks — devices that allow a semi-automatic weapon to mimic the firing speed of an automatic weapon.
Matt Rourke / Associated Press
Republican congressional candidate Marty Nothstein poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018.
Meanwhile, the issues section of Nothstein’s campaign website has a two-sentence description under the Second Amendment and says he will “work in Congress to prevent those who would undermine our rights.” But it doesn’t get into specifics of legislation he would support or oppose.
At the same debate, Libertarian candidate Tim Silfies didn’t call for any increased gun restrictions and said people’s right to protect themselves, their families and their property is “enshrined in the Constitution for a reason.”
The district: Wild is favored in the 7th congressional race for the seat that covers all of Lehigh and Northampton counties, plus part of Monroe County.
Other ratings and endorsements: Giffords, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and the Newtown Action Alliance have endorsed Wild.
Southcentral Pennsylvania
In an April ad, Democrat George Scott dismantled and burned a semi-automatic rifle and called for mandatory background checks and a ban on “assault rifles meant for war.”
He called Republican incumbent Scott Perry one of “Donald Trump’s loyal soldiers” who “exploit guns and God to score political points.”
Scott went on to win the Democratic primary. Ahead of the general election, his campaign removed that ad from his YouTube page. (The Pennsylvania Republican Party re-posted the ad.)
“Gun violence is an issue that resonates with people, but it’s not the foremost issue that we hear about on a day to day basis from voters,” Scott said. “…Our focus is on health care first and foremost.”
But Scott said he’s not running away from the gun issue.
On his campaign website, Scott says he wants to ensure that: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has funding to research gun violence; all gun purchases are identified through universal background checks; bump stocks and high capacity-magazines are banned; “the sale of assault weapons” is restricted; and the minimum age for gun purchases is raised to 21. He also wants better security at schools and other public places.
Scott is opposed to arming teachers.
Perry had described himself as a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association and said, “few are stronger advocates of the Second Amendment than I.” As a state lawmaker, Perry was the prime sponsor of legislation expanding the rights of a person to use deadly force in self-defense without first having to retreat.
In 2016, Perry said the government needs to enforce existing gun laws “rather than hampering the rights of law-abiding citizens,” and he introduced legislation that his office said would stop the executive branch from “unilaterally taking action to create more restrictive regulations on law-abiding gun owners.”
The candidates were asked about school safety and gun legislation during a Rotary Club of York debate in September. Perry said school district superintendents have described different needs: special counselors, upgraded facilities, more resource officers.
“Now on the bump stock issue, the president issued — we were moving towards that legislation, the president issued an executive order, and … they are now banned,” Perry said.
On Oct. 1, Trump said his administration was in the “final stages” of the procedure to eliminate bump stocks. But that federal ban hasn’t gone through yet, and people can still buy bump stocks, according to David Chipman, a senior policy advisor at Giffords.
Also, during the debate, Perry suggested the label of “assault-style weapons” is too broad, and he said the assault weapons ban in the 1990s “had no discernible effect on the safety of people and the use of guns.”
The district: Perry is favored in the 10th Congressional District, which includes all of Dauphin County and parts of York and Cumberland counties.
Other ratings and endorsements: Perry is endorsed by the NRA and has an A- rating from the group. Scott has an F rating.
The Giffords group and Newtown Action Alliance endorsed Scott and he has received the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction.
Erie
At a debate in Erie, the candidates were asked about the high rate of school shootings and the role of the federal government in preventing them.
“I don’t support any additional bans on guns,” Democratic challenger Ron DiNicola said. “But I do support common-sense solutions to solve the problem.”
He said he wants to require universal background checks; make sure guns stay out of the hands of violent offenders and people convicted in protection-from-abuse cases; give police officers the ability to separate unstable people from their weapons; and enhance the security of schools.
DiNicola doesn’t support arming teachers.
Kelly didn’t mention any gun restrictions in his response. Instead, he talked about the assistance he’s provided to schools. He said $442,000 will flow into the Erie School District for protection, and he has invited school districts to sit down with the Secret Service.
“And they will walk them through an analyzation of how we can make each of those schools safer,” Kelly said.
Later in the debate, DiNicola criticized Kelly over something he left out of his response.
“I didn’t hear my opponent say that he supported universal background checks. That would be a foundational element in trying to solve the gun problem,” DiNicola said. “And Congress just hasn’t gotten together on it.”
A third candidate in the race, Libertarian Ebert Beeman, was not included in the debate.
The district: Kelly is favored in the northwestern Pennsylvania district that includes all of Erie County.
Ratings and endorsements: Kelly has an A+ from the NRA and its endorsement. The group gave DiNicola a D rating.
Neither is endorsed by Giffords, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund or the. Neither has received the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction.
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