Wilkinsburg shooting

Police investigate the scene of a deadly shooting in Wilkinsburg, Pa., Thursday, March 10, 2016. Police say multiple people were killed in the shooting late Wednesday and several were injured in suburban Pittsburgh. (Michael Henninger/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

(Michael Henninger)

(Editor's Note: In keeping with PennLive's policy, this will be Hillary Clinton's only appearance in these pages before the April 26 primary. If she wins her party's presidential nomination, Clinton will be allowed one op-ed during the fall general election campaign.)

By Hillary Clinton

It was warm on March 9, so Brittany Powell invited some friends and family over for a barbecue at her home in Wilkinsburg, just outside Pittsburgh.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaigns at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Convention in Philadelphia, Wednesday, April 6, 2016. Dan Gleiter, PennLive.com

The adults got the grill going and cracked open some beers, while the kids ran around the backyard.

Suddenly a shot rang out. People scrambled to the back door to take cover inside the house. But a second gunman was waiting for them. He opened fire with an AK-47-style assault rifle. In seconds, five people were dead, including a pregnant woman.

Wilkinsburg is one of many places in Pennsylvania struggling in the face of too much violence, and too little opportunity.

Like many other communities, from Erie to Chester to Harrisburg, it's been left to face the national gun violence epidemic alone.

I know that gun ownership is part of the fabric of law abiding communities. Growing up, I learned how to shoot over many Scranton summers.

And a full 93 percent of Americans agree that we can take commonsense steps like requiring background checks, while respecting the Second Amendment.

So do 85 percent of American gun owners.

That's why many states have taken steps like these that make it harder for dangerous people to get guns illegally--and they have made a difference.

But Pennsylvania has gone in the other direction. Even the most basic measures are now virtually impossible to pass, thanks to Act 192.

This so-called "pre-emption" law was passed by Republicans in the General Assembly and signed into law by former Gov. Tom Corbett, before a court stepped in to rule against it.

The law said that any town adopting gun reforms can be sued by the NRA.

Read that sentence again. It's as outrageous as it sounds. If this law is allowed to go into effect, the NRA will have standing in all those cases, as if they were a Pennsylvania resident impacted by these laws.

And if the town loses a lawsuit, they won't just have to undo their law--they'll also have to pay the NRA's legal costs.

This law would give the gun lobby a power they have craved for years. In fact, the moment Act 192 passed, they immediately sued Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Lancaster

Cities have already faced serious consequences for laws that could prevent mass murders like what occurred at Brittany Powell's house.

Just last year, Act 192 led Wilkinsburg to repeal its requirement to report stolen guns. City officials weighed the value of keeping this law against a costly lawsuit, and they decided they couldn't afford to take the risk.

Luckily, a lower court has intervened. But Act 192 is now in the hands of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and could become active once more.

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So we need to elect a president this November who will work with advocates and lawmakers across the country to change these laws, and keep leading the fight against gun violence.

Here's what I'd do as President:

First, we need to repeal the sweeping liability protections that the gun industry enjoys. Gun dealers and manufacturers should be held liable if they break the law, just like every other industry in America.

Second, we should build on President Barack Obama's recent executive orders, and implement comprehensive criminal background checks that keep guns out of the hands of felons, abusers, and the severely mentally ill.

Third, we need to close the so-called "Charleston loophole." Right now, a person with a violent felony conviction can get a gun if their background check isn't completed within three business days.

So far, this loophole has allowed 55,000 otherwise prohibited gun sales to proceed.

This is what's at stake in this election. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz stand with the gun lobby.

They will let them keep blocking commonsense laws preventing gun violence.

This issue marks a real difference on the Democratic side, too. Sen. Bernie Sanders has voted with the gun lobby on many of these issues. He voted to protect the gun industry from lawsuits.

He voted against the Brady Bill, which created the federal background check system. And he even voted yes on a standalone measure that created the Charleston loophole.

In a recent debate, when he defended one of these votes, the NRA tweeted: "Sanders was spot-on in his comments" about guns.

When the NRA is praising you, you're doing something wrong.

I've been standing up to them for my entire career. And I'm not stopping now - not when so many of our sons and daughters are dying.

Too many mothers have suffered the unimaginable loss of their children.

In just the last three months, five Harrisburg men--Freddie Jay Williams, John Thomas Carter III, Eric Byrd, Ty'Jerell Curry, and Andre Lamont Parker--have been shot and killed. Andre was only 19 years old.

We need to stop these senseless deaths. All our kids deserve the chance to grow up.

I have no illusions about how hard this will be. But I draw inspiration from the mothers I've met, who have resolved to turn their sorrow into a strategy and their mourning into a movement.

It's a movement we all need to join.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a Democratic candidate for President.