Apr. 26, 2017
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield/Elk) today joined the majority of his House colleagues in voting to support legislation that stands up for the rights of gun owners.
House Bill 671 may now be considered by the state Senate.
“This bill is necessary in order to allow Pennsylvania’s current preemption law to work as it was intended,” Gabler said. “With more than 2,500 municipalities in Pennsylvania, a set of easily understandable and easy-to-follow laws is necessary to enable law-abiding citizens to exercise their constitutional rights as they travel across the state. Unfortunately, some municipalities have decided to disregard state law and enact their own illegal local ordinances. This bill will provide a realistic means to restore true uniformity to our state’s firearms laws.”
House Bill 671 is similar to legislation that passed in 2014 but was overturned by the Commonwealth Court for procedural reasons last year. Act 192 of 2014 would have allowed an individual or group to challenge a local gun ordinance and recoup legal costs associated with that challenge.
Under current law in Pennsylvania’s Crimes Code, no county, municipality or township may regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms or ammunition.
“The court’s decision was based on a technicality, not on disagreement with the intent of the legislation” added Gabler. “I am confident that House Bill 671 adequately avoids the technical issues that doomed Act 192 and will succeed in protecting law-abiding citizens’ rights across our state.”
Questions about this legislation or any state-related matter may be directed to Gabler’s DuBois office at (814) 375-4688, his St. Marys office at (814) 781-6301 or Clearfield office at (814) 765-0593.
Representative Matt Gabler
75th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Scott Little
717.260.6137
slittle@pahousegop.com
RepGabler.com /
Facebook.com/RepGabler