I have an update to my post from yesterday. The Senate session information is up, and I have a link to the bill that passed.  The Senate bill (I was looking at house bills yesterday, wrong place to look):
It does update the definition of firearm for receiving stolen property and theft, as the house bill I posted yesterday did. I support this measure, since it extends penalties for stealing or receiving all firearms, not just handguns. This strikes me as sensible.
The bill also requires the police to trace guns recovered from juveniles and make a determination as to how the juvenile came into possession of it, even though the Brady Campaign and numerous other groups would like us to believe the Tiahrt amendment prevents law enforcement from doing things like this. Â Passing a handgun to a juvenile is a crime in Pennsylvania, except under limited circumstances (target shooting, hunting, etc), so the police can trace the gun.
Very important to note: The state police registry has been stripped out in this version! It did not make final passage. This removes my major objection to the bill.
I will have to agree with the NRA’s acquiescence to this bill. Pennsylvania isn’t passing gun control, no matter what the Inquirer and city politicians would like to dupe the citizens of Philadelphia into believing.