Dowling Bill to Fight Illegal Gun Ordinances Heads to Governor’s Desk
HARRISBURG – Legislation to better protect Pennsylvanians’ Second Amendment rights is on its way to the governor’s desk, said Rep. Matthew Dowling (R-Fayette/Somerset), prime sponsor of the bill.
The state Senate approved Dowling’s
House Bill 979 Tuesday by a vote of 32-17.
“This is a great day for our citizens, our communities and our Constitution,” said Dowling, who serves as chairman of the House Second Amendment Caucus. “Any elected official who takes an oath to ‘support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth’ is bound by that oath to sign this bill into law.”
While state law already prohibits municipalities across the Commonwealth from enacting their own gun laws, some have chosen to break that law. House Bill 979 would deter implementation of illegal ordinances by holding offending jurisdictions financially responsible for attorney fees and costs, as well as any lost income, for a person who successfully challenges such an ordinance.
“Where no uniform state laws are in place, the result can be chaotic as restrictions change from one local jurisdiction to another,” Dowling said. “Where so many different ordinances are allowed to exist, citizens with no criminal intent are placed in danger of breaking restrictions they are unaware of just by going from one county to the next or one town to the next.”
Representative Matthew Dowling
51st Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives