Officials from state's urban areas fed up with stalemate on gun control measures.
Black lawmakers from the state's urban areas, frustrated in their efforts to get a vote on gun control measures, walked out of a House session in protest Wednesday.
According to the Associated Press, a majority of members of the House Legislative Black Caucus, all Democrats, are from Philadelphia, where 369 people were killed this year through Monday. About 80 percent of the deaths involved handguns.
"It's time for our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to understand that this issue, when it comes to saving lives in our various districts, is extremely important to us," said Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, the caucus chairman. Sixteen lawmakers walked out, Kirkland said.
A spokesman for Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, a Democrat, declined to comment. Democrats control the House by a single vote.
Gun bills are always contentious in the Legislature, where many Democrats represent rural areas with strong hunting constituencies and the National Rifle Association has friends among both parties' leadership.
"I think there's no appetite to do what they want to do, as far as passing additional restrictions on firearms to deal with Philadelphia," NRA lobbyist John Hohenwarter said.
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