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HARRISBURG — At the end of a week that saw two mass shootings in Philadelphia, Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order Friday morning aimed at reducing gun violence in the state.

The new order requires state agencies to collect more data about gun violence, instructs state police to boost their monitoring of hate groups and white supremacists, and increases efforts to help local police departments respond to threats of mass shootings.

It also expands a current program to allow people to use text messages to alert law enforcement to “suspicions of mass shootings” and creates a council of criminal justice experts and lawmakers to study gun violence and provide policy recommendations.

“Too many Pennsylvanians are dying from gun violence,” the governor, a Democrat, said in a prepared statement. “The action I am announcing today includes provisions for Pennsylvanians of all walks of life and looks at gun violence from all angles.”

Wolf originally intended to sign the order earlier in the week but delayed those plans “out of respect for” six Philadelphia police officers who were shot during a standoff in the city’s Tioga section Wednesday night. The following day, five people were wounded in a separate shooting in the city’s Ogontz section.

Wolf’s order comes at a time when public pressure is mounting across the nation, and particularly in Democratic circles, for politicians to address gun-control measures in the wake of a series of deadly shootings.

The changes authorized by Wolf’s new order don’t require approval from the Republican-controlled state legislature, according to his office. They are expected to roll out over the course of several months. It wasn’t immediately clear how much the new initiative would cost.

Wolf’s order also makes some changes to agencies under his control. The Department of Health will now have a new Division of Violence Prevention. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency will have a new Office of Gun Violence Prevention as well, which will be led by former Philadelphia police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. The commission will also have a Special Council on Gun Violence, consisting of criminal justice experts and lawmakers, who will be tasked with forming policy recommendations over the course of several months.

The new measures will begin as Wolf seeks to negotiate with GOP legislators on several key gun-control bills. The governor has asked lawmakers to send him bills implementing universal background checks, requiring gun owners to use safe storage devices and increasing the ability of judges to temporarily confiscate someone’s weapons if they pose a threat to themselves or others.

Gov. Tom Wolf
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL110218Governor-3-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgGov. Tom Wolf

By Liz Navratil

The Philadelphia Inquirer