PA Senate Local Government Committee Hears GOA Testimony on SB 822

On October 29, 2025, the Senate Local Government Committee heard testimony from GOA and other pro-gun organizations to pass SB 822, a bill that would strengthen Pennsylvania’s firearms preemption law.

I personally testified regarding GOA’s case that is pending before the PA Supreme Court that challenges Philadelphia’s ban on homemade firearms, explaining why SB 822 is necessary.

I also made it clear to the committee that these local gun control ordinances are all part of a coordinated strategy to bankrupt law-abiding citizens who are victimized by these illegal ordinances using tax dollars and outside money provided by Michael Bloomberg and Everytown USA.

You see, Everytown USA promised free legal help to any city anywhere that wants to challenge their state’s firearms preemption law. Meanwhile, honest gun owners like you and me get stuck with paying for costly legal challenges to restore our gun rights.

What is preemption? It is our state law that says that only the Pennsylvania General Assembly can enact laws related to the regulation of firearms:

No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth. (18 PA.C.S. § 6120)

Cities like Philadelphia continue to violate the state firearms preemption law without any accountability for their actions. Worse, they have the unlimited resources of Bloomberg front organizations to defend them in court.

The good news is that SB 822 (Langerholc) would end local gun control once and for all in Pennsylvania.

SB 822 provides law-abiding citizens with the ability to recover damages, reasonable attorney fees, and costs if a court finds that a local ordinance violates the state firearms preemption law. It also would award costs to an unsuspecting citizen charged with a crime under one of these illegal ordinances who is subsequently acquitted.

Not only that, but this bill would allow membership organizations, like GOA, to sue on your behalf. SB 822 also delivers long-overdue clarity on the scope of preemption, permanently ending any ability of local governments to pass illegal gun control ordinances without facing consequences.

Friend, let’s hold elected officials accountable for breaking the law and stop their financial “war of attrition” against law-abiding gun owners.

So, please contact your state senator (by using the form above) and urge them to pass SB 822 without delay.