Gun owners don’t need to break local firearm laws to bring a legal challenge, Commonwealth Court rules
A ruling issued by a state appeals court Thursday will allow gun owners to challenge locally passed firearms laws, regardless of whether they have been prosecuted for violating the ordinances.
In a 7-0 decision, Commonwealth Court ruled that the pro-gun group Firearms Owners Against Crime and three of its members may challenge the constitutionality of four Harrisburg gun laws.
The previous precedent, set a decade ago by the court, found that lawsuits challenging local laws could only be brought by individuals who were about to or had already broken the law.
“It makes little sense to wait for appellants to break the law, which we presume they do not want to do, before they can challenge it,” Judge P. Kevin Brobson wrote in the decision. “It also makes little sense to force law-abiding citizens to rely on law breakers to advocate their interests.”
