State Reps. Marty Causer, R-Turtlepoint, and Matt Gabler, R-DuBois, both supported legislation in the state House to stand up for the rights of gun owners.

“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.”

“Our nation’s Constitution guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms, and the state Constitution does so as well,” Causer said. “When local governments try to pass their own gun regulations contrary to the laws of the Commonwealth, they are infringing on those rights.

“Having different rules in different communities also puts law abiding citizens at risk of unknowingly breaking a locally established law as they travel throughout the state. Uniform laws are a must,” he added.

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.”

The bill now goes to the senate for consideration.