CeaseFirePA, a gun-violence prevention group with offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, wants to establish a presence in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Program director Jeff Dempsey and intern Max Milkman met with law enforcement, domestic violence prevention, LGBT and mental health representatives in Scranton on Tuesday and Wednesday as the nonprofit explores partnerships with local groups.

The pair visited the University of Scranton, city Police Chief Carl Graziano, Carl Halkyer of the NEPA Rainbow Alliance and representatives from the Women's Resource Center, Goodwill Industries of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Northeast Suicide Prevention Initiative and the Advocacy Alliance.

"We're in Scranton because, quite frankly, we have a lot of work to do," Mr. Dempsey told various representatives gathered at the Women's Resource Center on Wednesday. "We have a real dearth of support out here."

Although gun rights and regulation is always a hot-button issue, Mr. Dempsey expressed confidence his anecdotal interactions with the public and polling data show most people support what he described as common-sense reforms. In many cases, he finds people think some regulations the organization supports already exist.

Items on CeaseFirePA's agenda include mandating background checks during private sales of long guns such as the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, limiting magazine clips to 15 rounds and requiring people with protection-from-abuse orders against them to turn over guns to police.

"If I had an AR-15 and I wanted to sell it to you, we could go outside right now," Mr. Dempsey said. "I could sell it to you, and I don't need to know if you've ever been arrested or if you have a PFA against you currently. We think there's a large problem with that."

Carol Shoener, economic advocacy director at the Women's Resource Center, was troubled state law allows people with PFAs against them to turn firearms over to a third-party — which could include a friend or relative — instead of law enforcement.

"The No. 1 cause of homicide and/or homicide-

suicide in cases of domestic violence is with guns," she said. "I think there's some common mission (with CeaseFirePA)."

Mr. Graziano said he met with the CeaseFirePA representatives to hear their concerns. He had some interest in the idea of closing loopholes in private gun sales.

"They were just here to tell us what they support," he said. "We didn't commit to anything beyond that."

State Rep. Marty Flynn, D-113, Scranton, did not attend any of the meetings and said he is not a big fan of gun control efforts. However, he said he is open to "common sense" legislation to keep guns out of the hands of criminals if it doesn't interfere with people's Second Amendment rights, and thought CeaseFirePA may struggle to gain traction in the region.

"This is a very hunting-friendly area," he said. "They're going to have their work cut out for them."

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