Good news from the Keystone State. Sort of. Democrat Governor Tom Wolf has reversed course in the face of pending litigation and has allowed Pennsylvania gun shops to reopen on a limited basis. Of course, he has mandated a long list of hurdles for dealers to navigate, but at least buyers can still acquire guns and ammunition.
Wolf initially ordered gun shops stores as “non-essential” businesses in his Chinese virus emergency declaration. This was on top of some local jurisdictions blocking the issuance of carry licenses in the Keystone State.
Clearly, the gun store closure order didn’t go over well with Pennsylvanians wanting to buy personal protection tools. What’s more, it didn’t go over well with gun rights activists either.
Yesterday, Governor Wolf saw the writing on the wall and backtracked on his earlier order.
From the Washington Free Beacon:
Pennsylvania gun stores will remain open on a limited basis after Democratic governor Tom Wolf reversed course on his emergency coronavirus shut-down order on Tuesday.
The governor will allow gun dealers to reopen their stores, but his order still severely restricts what they are allowed to do. The updated order says gun stores may only operate “to complete only the portions of a sale/transfer that must be conducted in-person under the law,” likely referring to the completion of a background check, which must be done in person.
The move comes as demand for firearms has surged in the wake of the pandemic, as a number of police departments, including Philadelphia’s, have announced they will no longer arrest people committing certain crimes. The Democrat amended the order just two days after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied an emergency request from Second Amendment activists challenging the gun store shutdown. Other states and localities are issuing orders similar to Wolf’s, but there has been no clear consensus among them on whether gun stores should be among the exempted businesses.
The order requires that stores must operate on an “individual appointment” basis and only “during limited hours.” Dealers must also “comply with social distancing, sanitization of applicable area between appointments, and other mitigation measures to protect its employees and the public,” according to the updated order.
If Governor Wolf really cared about freedom and liberty, he would oppose gun control laws and other government control schemes. America should progress toward a future of freedom, instead of trying to reenact past tyrannies.
The Second Amendment Foundation issued this statement regarding Wolf’s reversal:
The Second Amendment Foundation is applauding Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to recognize that gun dealers are essential to public safety, and has updated the list of life sustaining businesses to allow Keystone State gun owners to exercise their fundamental constitutional rights.
Wolf’s reversal came after the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court had ruled against an emergency legal challenge by several Second Amendment groups to the governor’s earlier order to close “non-life-sustaining” businesses due to the Coronavirus panic, but did not get to the merits of the case.
“Gov. Wolf’s change of heart is a welcome display of good sense and constitutional adherence,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Perhaps some other state governors could take a lesson from Wolf as they issue so-called ‘stay-at-home’ orders. SAF currently has a federal lawsuit against New Jersey, and we are working on lawsuits against Washington, Massachusetts and jurisdictions in California and North Carolina, among others.
Iowa 29C.25. Laws DO matter. Elections DO have consequences. Vote Civil Rights.
read this !! national emergency 42 U.S. Code § 5207. Firearms policies
Wolf more like weasel.
he’s a liberal…and in his second term….so expect him to push the envelope…..
If you’re already complying with social distancing, etc., then why do you have to operate “during limited hours?” What difference does the time of day make? This sounds like an underhanded way of limiting sales.
ALL the gunshops in ILLinois & Indiana are operating on “limited hours”…where you been dude? Voluntarily too.
Voluntarily is different than being told what you must do. I haven’t checked any local gun shops since this thing hit. If you’re doing everything else within the guidelines, and you have the manpower, I’m not sure how limiting the hours helps. I personally wouldn’t want to go anywhere I have to stand in a line.
The only gun shop I visited has been closing 3 hours in the middle of the day to give their workers food and a chance to log in anything being delivered by UPS. So limited hours is usually limited by their limited merchandise because the panic buyers already cleaned out their stock.
Then the business owner should make the decision based on his personal circumstances. Different businesses have different circumstances.
Agreed
The council in L.A. just did the same to that treasonous sheriff by reversing his unconstitutional order for gun stores to close. Which is amazing for Kalipornia.
I’m just hearing this news about Villanueva (I slept in unusually late this morning on accident). Are you telling me the uber-Left City Council voted to reverse the Sheriff’s declaration?
I Haz A Question –
Yes, they reversed the sheriff’s treasonous order.
https://time.com/5809444/los-angeles-closing-gun-shops-coronavirus/
Here’s the latest.
Not so sure about the whole “change of heart” thing🤷♂️
Thanks S A F…
Looks like a weasel.
These self serving two bit politicians understand class action lawsuits otherwise they would not budge.
After 3 years of a sleazy despicable concocted witch hunt to overthrow a duly elected POTUS it seems people would learn. But no…useful idiots continue to cling to breadline bernie and Jim Crow Gun Control joe biden. Same bunch fell hook line and sinker for the break girl lowlife john edwards…what filth.
Scumbags! Take every opportunity (crisis) to try to whittle away at the bill of rights and hope nobody notices. WE’RE WATCHING!!!
Wolf made his attitude toward guns clear when he declared that access to 2A supplies, access to supplies for self-defense, is unnecessary.
I am thankful that the Chair of the PA Senate Judiciary has stated no gun control measures will ever move out of his committee. Since all gun control measures must go through that committee, Wolf will not have opportunity during his last term to try and pass into law that which he has attempted to do via edict.
Clearly, closing gun stores has nothing to do with the virus. If you want to “stop” the virus, then close all grocery stores, newspaper offices, TV network buildings, Amazon deliveries, trains, buses, airlines. Our governor (jelly belly) always has a bunch of people standing near him during all his press conferences. I guess it’s not as serious as he says. We can’t go to the park, but we can ride the bus.
Seriously. Every grocery store I drive by is still busy. You would think these people should be well stocked by now.
It’s some sort of Murphy’s Law. The more food I buy, the more I eat, the more I need to buy. Gained 5lbs already.
I’ll bet you are not alone in that, Victoria!
True story. I normally don’t keep many crackers, chips, and dip. Went out and bought a bunch, so I’ve been eating a bunch. Pro tip: don’t sit down with an open bag of chips and dip. Also been putting away the PB lately.
Ya, it’s clearly another Chino/Russia conspiracy to make us M’ricans fatter. Sadly, like others have said….it’s working on me too.
Me and the kids have been eating biscuits and gravy almost every morning because we have them…..doh!
Our local stores are finally getting food back on the shelves, though still no paper (napkins, TP) or canned (vegetable, beans) goods. Produce is heavily discounted, as nobody was buying any during the rush, so much of it is about to go bad if not eaten soon.
Our pantry and fridge are well stocked with food. When the canned goods are available again, I’ll augment our long-term larder with more.
Walmart is rationing certain items……
Depends. People who have the means are constantly stopping off.
The stores here are pretty well stocked but we’re gonna get a SAH order here tomorrow until the 12th and maybe the 17th. Topping off as close to the lockdown makes sense for those living paycheck to paycheck. It extends the time they can comply by a few days.
Another TYRANT backed down.
This goes on for a few more weeks and they keep pushing people they will have violent civil unrest.
The Coronavirus is serious but it’s being overplayed. What’s the real agenda?
By the way Stalinist Democrats you failed to get half a million guns first.
This is the last thing Democrats want. More voters waking up to gun control lies and voting to protect their right to keep and bear arms.
I would doubt that in most cases they’ve even thought about this much. They just order everything to close, gun stores included. It’s not like there’s some diabolical guy stroking a Persian cat, sipping fine Scotch and laughing “Mwhahahaha and the GUN STORES TOO!!”
They didnt order gun stores to close in Colorado and they said explicitly in town hall-ish online meetings that the reason was because they saw the political backlash in other states and that touching the third rail to tick people off was another headache they didn’t need.
The truth, hard as it might be for some people, is that we’re off the map here. People aren’t generally self-reliant at all and to fill an emotional void the government has to dO sOmEthiNg to make it look like they’re in charge of shit. Most of these people are woefully unprepared for this kind of leadership and this crisis so they’re flailing.
Part of the reason for that is that people are generally impatient and stupid. They don’t want tax dollars spent on preparing for disasters that may never come so the government, in many cases, skips over stuff for PR reasons. But now that shit’s gotten real those same people are screaming that the government isn’t prepared.
To use the old analogy the people preferred butter over guns right up until they actually needed the guns. A topic, hilariously, covered on the actual topic of firearms by, of all shows, Family Guy.
Yeah, we even get the Guv of NY complaining that the Fed Gubt was not prepared to save him from his own fuckups. I mean, that takes some gall!
Just one more reason NOT to relocate to PA.Wolf is a buddy of Benito Musolini Andrew Cuomo
and yeah I’m permanently leaving this Marxist paradise of NYState in 2020
PA is bounded on three sides by NY, Maryland and New Jersey….some of that is bound to rub off…
I’ve got a dozen rolls of toilet paper I’ll trade for 2 cans of Lysol spray.
With young kids in school that occasionally bring home funk, that’s one thing I already had. Along with Clorox wipes and plenty of hand sanitizer.
I would like to once again apologize for my state government. We are trying hard to replace them.
Some of us are.
The PA supreme court which just refused to hear the case on this was elected in the 2017 election. Did you know there was an election in 2017? Did you vote in it?
I spent a lot of time that year trying to hand out voters guides at gun shows and to distribute them to gun shops. Most of what I got from gun owners was “We voted Trump in, he’ll protect our guns.” and “I belong to the NRA. They’ll handle it.”
…..then run somebody better…the republican opponents were pitiful….
It’s all just beta testing. Let’s mandate more soy in their diet and try again later……
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