After four years of effort, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives finally passed critical firearms preemption legislation. Yesterday, the state House voted to concur on the Senate amendments to House Bill 80 by an overwhelming 138 to 56 vote. HB 80, when signed into law, will strengthen the state firearms preemption statute to further ensure that firearm and ammunition laws are consistent throughout Pennsylvania.
State firearms preemption was originally enacted by the Pennsylvania Legislature to avoid the possibility of 2,639 separate firearm laws across the Commonwealth. However, over recent years, more than fifty localities have enacted gun control ordinances in violation of the current state firearms preemption law, creating a myriad of local gun laws that make compliance difficult for responsible gun owners. HB 80 will provide a way for responsible gun owners to hold these municipalities responsible for infringing on our Second Amendment rights.
We are also pleased to report that after much hard work, House Bill 1750, misguided legislation being pushed by the Humane Society of the United States, died in the House Rules Committee and is no longer a threat this year to the age-old tradition of organized bird shoots.
We would like to give a special thanks to our local sportsmen’s groups, Firearm Owners Against Crime, Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania and our NRA members who tirelessly contacted their state legislators throughout the process. We appreciate all of the hard work that went into yesterday’s success.
HB 80 will now be sent to Governor Tom Corbett (R) for his expected signature. Using the contact information provided below, please contact Governor Corbett and politely encourage him to sign HB 80 into law.
Governor Tom Corbett
Phone: (717) 787-2500
E-mail: [email protected]