HARRISBURG — The Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate closed up shop Thursday until after the Nov. 4 election, clearing the table with a slew of votes.

One bill would broaden the definition of who can challenge local gun-control ordinances in court, the latest fight over tension between cities that are seeking ways to curb gun violence and a state Legislature that has resisted new forms of gun control.

Backed by the National Rifle Association, the bill would allow “membership organizations” to stand in for any Pennsylvania member who is “adversely affected” by an illegal local gun-control ordinance. The challenger could seek damages. The bill goes back to the House, which returns Monday.

Many other bills are going to Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk. The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to create a prescription drug-dispensing database. The aim is cracking down on substance abuse, but civil libertarians warn that it is an invasion of privacy that could hurt innocent people.

Another bill that passed is designed to help financially struggling municipalities get state help sooner, and overhaul the state’s program for distressed cities to ensure that municipalities spend no more than eight years in it, even if the state takes it over or disincorporates it.

Senators unanimously passed a bill that would prohibit the eviction of renters who contact police about domestic violence.

The Senate also passed a bill prompted by Mumia Abu-Jamal’s pre-recorded commencement address to graduates of Goddard College in Vermont earlier this month.

Under the bill, prosecutors or victims of a personal injury crime can seek an injunction when an offender’s conduct “causes a temporary or permanent state of mental anguish.” Abu-Jamal is serving life in prison for the 1981 shooting death of Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner.