Pennsylvania Lawmakers Remember Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Pennsylvania lawmakers held a joint session of the state’s General Assembly to remember the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack.
The memorial on Wednesday came a day after the city’s mayor signed into law new gun control legislation introduced in the aftermath of the Oct. 27 shooting by a white supremacist that killed 11 worshippers.
Lawmakers from the state House of Representatives and Senate were joined by members of the three congregations that met in the Tree of Life synagogue building in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, The Associated Press reported.
April 10 was designated “Stronger Than Hate Day” in Pennsylvania, the hashtag used to support the Jewish community of Pittsburgh after the attack.
“A dark and despicable act inspired thousands to reach out and find ways to lift up their grieving and terrified neighbors,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement before the session.
The gun control legislation has already been challenged in court, with critics saying that state law prohibits municipalities from regulating guns.
Under the legislation, the AR-15 assault-style rifle used by the synagogue gunman would be banned.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO