Pennsylvania State Senator Cris Dush (R-Bellefonte) is asking colleagues to cosponsor legislation to let law-abiding state residents carry concealed firearms without a permit, something he tried but failed to get enacted the last session.
The senator's original bill passed the General Assembly in the autumn of 2021, but then-Governor Tom Wolf (D) vetoed it. Its chances of becoming law have diminished even further insofar as Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro recently was elected in November to succeed Wolf and Democrats won a majority of seats in the State House of Representatives.
Current law requires Pennsylvanians ages 21 and older who wish to keep concealed guns on their persons or in vehicles to get a permit from their county sheriff. To acquire the document, a weapon owner must pass a background check, produce two character references, and pay a $20 application fee.
Dush and other gun-rights advocates view the permitting process as unduly onerous and duplicative since prospective firearm owners must already pass background checks to purchase their weapons.
“This legislation defends the rights of the citizens in our Commonwealth and I urge you all to co-sponsor this legislation,” he wrote in a memorandum describing his bill to fellow senators. “Those Pennsylvanians that follow the law each day should not be punished or hindered if they choose to carry a firearm.”
In urging the adoption of his “constitutional carry” policy last session, he emphasized his experience as a law-enforcement specialist in the U.S. Air Force and as an officer with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. He also cited data showing that over 90 percent of prisoners — both men and women — lacked a male role model growing up, arguing brutality in America owes not to gun ownership but to deeper social ills.
“We have put fatherhood out the door,” he said in a Senate floor speech. “Over and over again it was said: Gun violence, gun violence. Well, it's not ‘gun violence.' It's violence.”
Dush also stressed the sweeping language with which the Pennsylvania Constitution addresses gun rights: “The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.”
Despite the broad protection the state Constitution affords firearm owners when Wolf rejected Dush's original legislation, the governor called for stricter gun restrictions, including more stringent background checks and storage requirements.
“Each year there are more than 1,600 victims of gun violence in Pennsylvania,” the governor said. “These victims and communities deserve to have meaningful legislation passed to address the scourge of gun violence.”
Shapiro, who will get sworn in as governor on January 17, also came out strongly against the Dush bill when it landed on Wolf's desk.
“This change isn't just unnessecary [sic],” he tweeted. “It's flat out dangerous.”
The attorney general's Twitter post mischaracterized the bill as “allowing anyone to carry a concealed firearm without a permit” when the legislation would not nullify other requirements for gun possession.
Currently, 25 states have permitless concealed-carry policies. In his 2021 veto message, Wolf insisted that such states have an 11-percent higher murder rate than states without it. A 2020 Rand Corporation review of pertinent studies found “limited” evidence that liberalization of concealed-carry policy worsens violent crime.
Advocates for responsible firearm ownership contend that many individuals who carry concealed weapons have successfully stopped violent incidents. In April 2018, for instance, the Montana-based Crime Prevention Research Center noted that news of 10 such incidents broke in the U.S. in the prior two months alone.
Bradley Vasoli is the managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. This article originally appeared in The Pennsylvania Daily Star. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News. Republished with permission.
This is stupid. They should have a permit to carry. End of conversation
Great idea. Many states are already doing it and have made it official recently. You shouldn’t need a permit to exercise your 2nd Amendment constitutional right.
This is a right. Crooks don’t follow the law anyway. So why make the legal guy jump through hoops.
The 2nd Amendment supersedes PA law. Since the right in question is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, and exists independently of state authority, the inquiry as to whether the State has given something for which it can ask a return is irrelevant. Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U. S. 105, 115 (1943). It seems Pennsylvania has already had problems violating the U.S. Constitution and was smacked around by the U.S. Supreme Court. This is how concealed carry is going to have to pass in PA–by Court order. Anyone bringing suit on concealed carry also needs to address that the state can and will try and pull the issue of where you can carry like NY, NJ and CA did and are losing their arguments in court on it.
Why not follow Switzerland gun rules. Every citizen is armed, with exceptions. You must receive full gun safety training etc. Look at their kill rates vs any socialist, commie country and then compare Switzerlands rates to the USA and other supposed democratic countries (by the way the USA is a REPUBLIC and not a democracy. The only democracy is in voting and that is it.
Back to the Ole West Gun Toting Gunslinger Era, Instead of Proper Law Enforcement and Righteous Legal Jurisprudence!!! We Have Lost Sight of Both in recent years, Which MUST be Restored!!! I am a Firm Believer in the Second Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms!!! The General Public does not have the Common Sense nor Training nor Emotion to Properly Handle a gun in a confrontational situation!!!!
Love to see nationwide