A major federal court victory against the anti-gun National Firearms Act has exposed a dangerous problem in Pennsylvania law that lawmakers need to fix before gun owners are caught in the crossfire.
In Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, a federal judge ruled that the federal government could no longer justify the challenged NFA registration requirements under Congress’s taxing power after Congress eliminated the tax stamp for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns.
But Pennsylvania’s criminal code still treats these items as prohibited “offensive weapons,” requiring compliance with the NFA by submitting an ATF Form 1 or Form 4 that includes fingerprinting, photo identification, and notification of your Chief Law Enforcement Officer.
If provisions in the NFA regulating silencers, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns are ultimately ruled unconstitutional, these items would immediately become illegal for Pennsylvanians to purchase — since there would be no method for gun owners to comply with state law.
Additionally, the risk for gun owners who already own these tax-stamped NFA items would be extreme, especially if an anti-gun Democrat Attorney General is elected in November.
Because Section 908 of Pennsylvania law requires a Form 1 or Form 4 tax stamp to exempt gun owners from criminal penalties for owning an “offensive weapon,” the elimination of federal forms could place Pennsylvanians who already lawfully own these firearms in the crosshairs of anti-gun prosecutors.
That’s why State Representative Rob Kauffman and State Senator Judy Ward circulated co-sponsorship memoranda announcing legislation to fix this problem by removing suppressors and short-barreled rifles and shotguns from Pennsylvania’s offensive weapons statute.
The current co-sponsors include Representatives Aaron Bernstine, Joe Kerwin, Joe Hamm, and Dallas Kephart. No Senate co-sponsors are listed at the time of publishing.
This Change Is Critical for Gun Owners
If the NFA restrictions governing these firearms and accessories are ultimately abolished, Pennsylvania gun owners should not suddenly find themselves exposed to state prosecution because Harrisburg failed to update an outdated statute.
And Pennsylvanians should not be forced to comply with federal requirements that may no longer exist merely to avoid prosecution under state law.
In fact, suppressors and short-barreled firearms should never have been classified as “offensive weapons” in the first place.
But with the NFA facing a serious constitutional challenge, Pennsylvania lawmakers now have an opportunity to correct that mistake and provide clear protections for gun owners regardless of what happens next in federal court.
Pennsylvania Gun Rights strongly supports removing suppressors and short-barreled rifles and shotguns from Section 908 and ending Pennsylvania’s dependence on the federal NFA to determine whether otherwise peaceful gun owners are criminals.
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