POLITICS DECEMBER 18, 2018 / 9:40 AM / UPDATED 36 MINUTES AGO

Pittsburgh considers stricter gun laws after synagogue attack

Gabriella Borter
2 MIN READ

(Reuters) - The Pittsburgh City Council began considering a package of gun-control laws on Tuesday, including a ban on assault-style rifles, nearly two months after a gunman shouting anti-Semitic messages killed 11 people in a synagogue.

The measure would also ban certain types of ammunition and allow courts to ban gun ownership by people deemed to pose a significant threat of violence.

Seven of nine council members agreed to co-sponsor the legislation at Tuesday’s meeting.

“As gun violence escalates across the country, it would be unconscionable for me to stand by and do nothing,” Councilman Corey O’Connor, one of the legislation’s authors, said in a statement. O’Connor represents Squirrel Hill, the neighborhood where the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue took place.

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