Background checks. Concealed-carry permits. Mental health. Shooting ranges. Toy guns. Schools.

Those are just a few of the issues connected with 54 pieces of gun-related legislation introduced in Pennsylvania this year.

None of those bills — many of them supported by lawmakers from Lancaster County — came close to becoming law.

RELATED: Here are all 54 gun-related bills introduced in Pennsylvania in 2015

Representatives often know their bills will die, analysts say, but introduce them anyway so they can say they’ve taken action on an issue their district wants to see addressed.

“Generally, it’s not uncommon for people to introduce a lot of legislative measures with the focus of trying to appease constituency groups, for community representation and winning favor for future elections,” Elizabethtown College political science professor Kyle Kopko said.

As the gun-control debate raged on in 2015, an average of 36 people died and 73 were injured every day by gun violence in the U.S., according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.

Through Dec. 30, a total of 13,239 people died, up from 12,575 the year before, the Washington, D.C.-based organization found. Mass shootings increased to 329 from 281 in 2014.

Legislation is introduced year-round by Republicans and Democrats alike to make existing gun laws either stricter or less stringent.

In Pennsylvania, where political stalemate characterized Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s inaugural year, legislators penned dozens of bills to no avail.

Little chance

Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature produced 29 GOP-sponsored bills and 25 sponsored by Democrats.

Only four bills, all Republican, made it out of the initial committee to which they were referred.

Three (House bills 44, 1091 and 1632) looked to increase the mandatory minimum sentence for conviction of a violent crime using a firearm, or of illegal possession of a firearm. The fourth, which passed the Senate in the summer, would have allowed for limited use of semi-automatic sporting rifles for hunting.

But the vast majority of gun-related legislation is dead on arrival.

“If there is going to be any progress one way or the other, it’s probably going to have to wait until after the 2016 election,” Elizabethtown College’s Kopko said.

Gridlock and divided federal and state governments often hold up gun legislation, he said. Exceptions can be found in places such as Connecticut and Texas, where the same party has control over both the Legislature and the governor’s office, he pointed out.

Charles Greenawalt, a Millersville University government and political affairs professor, said he can see a few gun control measures that might have a chance of becoming law in Pennsylvania — and possibly nationally.

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One is closing the background-check loopholes at gun shows or in the transfer of guns among private parties, said Greenawalt, who was the state Senate director of policy and research from 1985 to 1992 and who worked in the lieutenant governor’s office in 2001.

In a state such as Pennsylvania — with enough gun owners and hunters to “constitute a small army of sorts” — more restrictions are unlikely to happen, Greenawalt said.

2015 Pennsylvania legislation

Gun bills in Pennsylvania ran the gamut this year. Some sought new restrictions — such as limiting a person from buying more than one handgun in a 30-day period. Others looked to relax current laws — such as eliminating the requirement for concealed-carry permits.

One bill would have allowed authorized school employees to carry guns on school property. Another would have prohibited sale and manufacturing of toy or imitation firearms that could “reasonably perceived to be an actual firearm.”

One of the latest efforts to enact stronger gun laws came from Sen. Art Haywood, D-Philadelphia. His bill would have required handgun buyers to first obtain a firearms eligibility license. To get such a license, a applicant would need to be at least 18 years old, live in the state, complete a firearms safety course in the last three years, and pass a fingerprint background check at a law enforcement office.

“Mr. Haywood’s proposal is severely misguided. … In short, I think it’s a really bad idea,” said state Sen. Lloyd Smucker, a Republican from West Lampeter Township who is running for Congress.

Smucker, who sponsored no gun-related bills this year, said the bill would not stop illegal straw purchases of guns, and “it would do nothing to keep handguns out of the hands of criminals or children.”

Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, said the bill “sounds reasonable” but is unlikely to pass out of the Judiciary Committee. “My guess is, it will never see the light of day.”

Lancaster County support

Twenty-nine legislators were the primary sponsors of all 54 bills.

No Lancaster County lawmakers — 12 of 13 are Republican — penned the bills, but some co-sponsored them.

Rep. Mark Gillen, who represents a small part of the county in Brecknock Township, co-sponsored the most at 11. House Majority Whip Rep. Bryan Cutler, from Peach Bottom, was next at 10 co-sponsorships.

Two bills garnered the most county support, with seven co-sponsors. One from Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, tried to prohibit the enforcement of any federal restriction, prohibition or registration requirement of firearms, magazines and ammunition. The other, from Rep. Tim Krieger, R-Westmoreland, wanted to eliminate the Pennsylvania Instant Check System.

“We can prosecute the criminals by enforcing our existing laws, rather than putting new requirements in place,” Cutler said in a recent statement.

As an example, Cutler cited a law signed in 2013 by Gov. Tom Corbett restoring a minimum five-year sentence for those convicted of making repeat straw purchases of firearms.

Rep. Keith Greiner, R-Leola, said he supports “meaningful and sensible measures that will keep guns out of the hands of criminals, while also respecting the rights of lawful and responsible gun owners.”