Senate Judiciary Committee to Vote on HB 979 Tomorrow (12-14-21)

In 2019,  Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and the City Council garnered national attention when they passed three illegal gun control ordinances in defiance of Pennsylvania’s firearms preemption law.

Fortunately, they have lost in court…but the case is on appeal.

Make no mistake about it, this was 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 Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have willfully broken 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 Representative Matt Dowling’s (R-51) bill to strengthen preemption will be voted on at tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Representative Dowling’s bill already cleared the House and is making its way through the Senate. Let’s give it a push to get it out of committee and on to the Senate floor for a roll call vote.

HB 979 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 would also 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.

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

So please urge your State Senator to report HB 979 from committee by filling out the form above.

Note: This alert will only function for constituents who live within the districts of the Senate Judiciary Committee members.