proposed laws

PA Bill Number: SB945

Title: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals.

Description: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals. ...

Last Action: Third consideration and final passage (199-0)

Last Action Date: Apr 17, 2024

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FOAC's Weekly Message For Sunday June 16th 2019 :: 06/16/2019

After decades of a slow, and oft times tumultuous, erosion of our rights, with occasional regaining small bits of ground, we stand on the brink. The slippery slope has shrunk to only inches wide, with nothing but a sheer cliff beyond it. The Democrats have given their party fully over to gun control.

Couple that with all of the controversy over the mess at the NRA and it now seems like a good time to remind everyone that YOU are the Gun Lobby.

This is a theme I have come back to again and again in the 35+ years that I have been actively interacting with Freedom Loving citizens on 2nd Amendment issues. Having had the honor of leading Firearms Owners Against Crime, and even before that, has given me a perspective on the importance ‘and’ effectiveness of the average citizen in impacting political decisions. In previous presentations I have said that the gun lobby “is ALL Pennsylvanians not a bunch of overstuffed suits in Harrisburg or Washington D.C. … if the NRA disappeared tomorrow, the Gun Lobby would still be just as powerful, because it's not the NRA, it's the voice and beliefs of the average citizen comprising tens of millions of dedicated patriots.”

In retrospect, those comments, which were very similar to comments I have made at multiple rallies in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania over the past decade ago, seem somewhat prophetic. While the NRA can be a useful tool, it is not the source of power or influence. You are.

It is particularly important for everyone to understand that the ugly mess facing the NRA today has the organization crippled, and it will remain crippled for some time into the foreseeable future.

But the gun lobby must continue to be strong.

After decades of a slow erosion of our rights, and occasionally regaining small bits of ground, we stand on the brink. The slippery slope is only inches wide, with nothing but a sheer cliff beyond it. The Democrats have given their party fully over to a “progressive” philosophy of total government control and citizen subservience, with a government monopoly on arms being one of their primary goals. Until saner heads regain control of that party, it is critical that they are defeated.

We, as defenders of freedom and lovers of liberty, can no longer afford to hang back and lend our support only to the cream of the solid, pro-rights candidates. At this point, the Democratic Party has taken that luxury away from us. Now our only option is to work for their defeat, regardless of the individual stands of their candidates or their opponents. Right now, it’s all about majorities – in Congress, in state legislatures, and on county boards and city councils. Even in states with low crime, and strong traditions of firearm freedom, like Maine and Vermont, Democrat majorities are pushing agendas of draconian gun control, simply because they can, and because Bloomberg and the Giffords’ group keep dumping millions into local elections, in support of radical Democrat, rights restrictors.

These assaults on our rights must be answered with votes. Gun owners can’t rely on the NRA to do it for us. We never could, but it’s more true and urgent now than ever before.
Too many times our guys got mad at Republicans for failing to deliver on promises, or for foolishly making concessions to the rights opponents, and stomped off in a huff, refusing to vote, or voting for third-party candidates with zero chance of winning. That’s how we got eight years of Barack Obama, and most recently, it’s how we lost the House of Representatives in 2018.

That absence from the field provided proof to Bloomberg and Democrat strategists that the power of the gun lobby and Gun Voters was just a myth. They successfully painted Gun Voter frustration with broken promises, as apathy and impotence, because we allowed vocal, gun control advocates to be elected with little opposition from our disgruntled troops.

They think we’re powerless, and they think that without big bucks and coordination we can’t be serious players in the political arena. It’s up to you to prove them wrong.

Political power lies in the ability to impact politicians’ most precious asset: the ability to be elected. Conventional wisdom says that can only be done with huge amounts of money spent on advertising, but conventional wisdom is wrong. We don’t need advertising, because we have the numbers we need already-5,000,000+. All we need is for our fellow gun owners and rights advocates to stand up and get involved. Every one of us must engage in the battle, working for the candidates who are going up against the radical gun control zealots — defeating the party of gun control, by working for the party that isn’t dedicated to taking away our guns.

We must do this because right now, Democrats have declared war on our rights. The only way to change their position, and to wake up the squishy Republicans, is for Gun Voters to turn out in droves, putting up signs, making phone calls, walking neighborhoods, and making sure that everyone in their family, their friends, their entire sphere of influence, is informed and activated to defeat those who oppose the Bill of Rights.

We didn’t make this a partisan fight, Democrats did. We’ll never make them change their minds by sitting on the sidelines or punishing weak-kneed Republicans by going hunting on Election Day. We must get busy, get involved, and demonstrate in November that the gun lobby is indeed alive and well, and we won’t tolerate open assault on our rights.

Setting the Right Priorities to Defend the Second Amendment

When it comes to defending our Second Amendment rights, there are a lot of potential fights. MOST gun owners have NO IDEA of the sheer number and breadth of these attacks, which are occurring on multiple fronts.

But what should be OUR biggest priorities?

Do we fight firearm, ammunition, bump stock and suppressor bans? Do we focus on getting judges who will enforce our Second Amendment rights? What about the many fights at the state and local levels of government on such things as Preemption (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, etc.)?  Can we fight them all?  How many volunteers does it take?  Are you one of them 'or' do you feel incapable of joining this fight?

We have to understand that there is only so much time in the day, and only so many resources, AND only so many volunteers. What legislation do we push? We could focus on Constitutional Carry in PA, or do we focus on Preemption Strengthening, which could mean that we lose out pushing other 2nd Amendment issues, like maybe eliminating the horribly imperfect and intrusive Pennsylvania Instant Check System. Remember, PA tradition is that in one given legislative session, party leaders say that most issues get only ONE ‘bite at the apple’ to be brought up (not counting the ‘squeaky wheel concept’).

But it also comes down to making decisions.

So, what are the priorities through 2020? The top priorities are four-fold: First, strengthen Preemption and stop the push to create a patchwork quilt of local gun laws. Second, fix the PA 302 Mental Health denial problem ‘and’ the Transportation of Firearms restrictive laws. Third, eliminate the PA Instant Check System and end the system failures, violations of rights, putting more PSP troopers on the street. Fourth, elect judges who will protect the Constitution and rights. Everything else will have to be secondary at this point.

Defending the 2nd Amendment is more than just saying “No.” Often it’s about making hard choices about what legislation to push – or whether efforts need to be spent on other issues. 2A supporters need to keep that in mind, or we may fail to stop the chorus of biased and prejudiced anti-constitution groups opposing us.

Cover Up in VA Beach Mass Murder: Victim Feared Mass Shooting by Coworker, Wanted to Be Armed – Media Ignoring the Controversy

Imagine this happening to you and consider what you would do. Your spouse is extremely frightened that either a just-fired co-worker who made threats as he was escorted from the property or another co-worker who had shown past violent tendencies, was going to come to work and start killing people. The administration is doing NOTHING to address your concerns for fear of controversy or personal culpability.

You tell your spouse to take a gun to work just in case. Your spouse has a gun and has had training, but ends up making the fateful decision not to break their employment agreement by bringing the gun to work.

The next day, the co-worker with violent tendencies comes to work. He has a key to secure access areas of the building, where police have no access, and ends up murdering your spouse and eleven other people.

That's what happened to Jason Nixon, whose wife, Katherine, was murdered in cold blood. His wife was rendered defenseless by the City of Virginia Beach's employment agreement, just like thousands of teachers and government workers here in Pennsylvania are.

We have ‘every’ reason to believe the above scenario is accurate and, it seems, Virginia Beach is in the middle of a coverup, as the City claims that the murderer showed no signs of being dangerous, was in good standing, and not about to be fired. And the City also apparently made no effort to increase security after the verbal threats by the fired co-worker.

A litany of “what if's” surely haunt Mr. Nixon. What if his wife had taken that gun in her purse and defied workplace rules? What if she had called in sick that day? What if she had left work early?

All we can do, at this point, is to extend our condolences to Mr. Nixon and work to expose the wrongful policies that stripped his wife of her right to protect herself. We need to outlaw “gun-free zones” once and for all. No law-abiding citizen should be required to die helplessly at the hands of a workplace killer in order to have a job. And the government, of all employers, should be upholding the Constitution and the protections in the Bill of Rights.

Here's an important article on the ‘alleged’ coverup by Virginia Beach:

More articles, including a call to release the employment records of the murderer:

NO citizen should EVER be put in the position to have to choose between their own life and a paycheck ‘and’ ANY place that disarms and disenfranchises citizens’ rights should be held accountable for unsafe practices and circumstances!

100 Days of Democrats' Gun Control Nonsense

Last week a group of Democrats in Congress held a press conference to discuss gun control. It’s not entirely clear why their remarks were newsworthy. It was simply another instance of gun control advocate’s advocating for gun control in front of the media. Their hook was that it had been 100 days since the House passage of a bill requiring universal background checks for ‘every’ private party firearm transfer.

Yes, all FFL dealers are already required to run background checks through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), regardless of whether the transfer is made through a store or at a gun show. But that isn’t good enough for those who wish to control the actions of every individual seeking to exercise their Constitutional rights under the Second Amendment.

And H.R. 8, their universal background check bill, sounds like the next logical law to pass when covered in the media. However, as we have said before, it can’t/won’t work.

Criminals Don’t Respect Laws

It can’t work because criminals who are prohibited by law from owning a firearm will not comply, as they do not comply with the existing laws. Government surveys have shown time and time again that the vast majority of prisoners obtained their guns from the black market or from theft.

There are zero indications that they will follow a new law requiring them to call the FBI as they are purchasing a stolen firearm on the street.

It can’t work because the only way to enforce the law will be to create a massive government database with a list of every gun owner and which firearms they own. That way, they can track whether a background check was run when the firearm was sold or given as a gift to another individual. In a time when every database is hackable and all personal information online is vulnerable, the last thing our country needs is a gun owner database.

Not an Antidote

According to the members of Congress who participated in this media availability debacle, H.R. 8 is needed to stem the (non-existent) “epidemic of gun violence.” As we have noted many times before, guns are not a disease and are used in fulfilling, healthy, legal, life-saving ways every day. When asked whether the bill would have prevented the recent tragic shooting in Virginia Beach, of course the answer was no, as the shooter had already passed more than one background check. The illegal actions of criminals must be addressed, as well as the rising suicide trends and the fortunately rare cases of unintentional injuries. But H.R. 8 is not a solution.

Let’s Look at the REAL Forces Behind Mass Murder in the US

After the recent shooting in Virginia Beach, many Democrat politicians said US gun owners were causing mass murder. Biased journalists said the same thing, and both of them are fantastically wrong. The real mass murderers are the people who claim to be for “gun safety”. The results are shocking once you look at the data and once you uncover a few facts. Unfortunately, our biased media is spewing spin rather than truth.

Do guns save lives?

Honest citizens defend themselves thousands of times every day. That isn’t rhetorical hyperbole, but hard statistics. We defend ourselves about every 30 seconds. Honest and law-abiding gun owners use their firearms for defense about a hundred times an hour, about 2800 times a day.

These honest citizens used their personal firearm to rescue themselves until the police arrived. You don’t see it in the news because these gun owners are exactly like you and me; they are wonderfully reluctant to press the trigger. Criminals almost always run away from armed victims just as the criminals run away when they meet armed police officers. Like police officers, the people who carry a legally concealed firearm in public are shockingly law abiding.

Armed defense doesn’t happen on every street every night, but it happens millions of times a year here in the US.

You and I KNOW that Disarming the good guys doesn’t stop the bad guys BUT that’s NOT the message our fellow citizens are getting force fed to them through nearly every media outlet.

Gun-control disarms these honest citizens who obey the law. Gun-control means that a young college student is disarmed as she walks to her apartment late at night. Gun-control means an elderly man can’t defend himself as he walks across the parking lot on a rainy afternoon. These honest citizens are disarmed by the high costs and burdensome regulations that politicians impose on gun owners. They are disarmed by bureaucrats who impose “gun-free” zones. Criminals never choose a fair fight. They gang up on isolated victims. Disarmed citizens are easy prey.

  • In Virginia Beach, the gun-control politicians disarmed the good guys. Plastic signs don’t stop bad guys. Search the internet ‘AND’ your memory and you’ll find that our “gun-free” offices, movie theaters, restaurants, schools and churches are where murderers go to kill us.
  • Gun-control advocates disarm honest US citizens by demanding higher fees and longer hours to get a concealed carry permit. The bad guys don’t bother with permits.
  • Gun-control politicians have disarmed the good guys who want to carry their firearm as they cross state lines. Some states don’t honor the permit from another state.  The bad guys love more disarmed victims.

I’ll simplify the problem if you still have doubts. About ten million honest citizens didn’t get their concealed carry permits because of high fees and burdensome training requirements. Many more were disarmed by arcane gun laws. At the same time, criminals committed almost 300 thousand aggravated assaults and murders last year.

We have 23 thousand+ gun-control laws today. Those laws are disarming the good guys who obey the law and they don’t disarm the bad guys who ignore the law. The good guys are your armed neighbors. They are hundreds of times more likely to save a life with their firearm than to have an accident with one. Criminal assault happens every day. That means every “gun-control” law is more likely to make the good guys vulnerable than it is to disarm the bad guys.

Disarming an honest citizen puts all of us at risk. Armed America saves lives, while gun-control advocates cost them. Listen to the news if you think violent crime doesn’t exist.

US Supreme Court Denies Challenge to NFA in Suppressor Case

The Supreme Court of the United States has rejected the appeal of two Kansas men charged with various violations of the Nation Firearms Act of 1934. SCOTUS will not hear their case, Kettler V. United States.

The justices did not offer a reason to why they will not hear the appeal of the men who acted within Kansas law, but outside federal regulations. Attorney Generals of seven states joined the men in urging SCOTUS to hear the case.

What the case was about:

Jeremy Kettler, who is a disabled Army veteran, purchased a suppressor from a military surplus store run by Shane Cox to protect his hearing. Kettler damaged his hearing while fighting for the US in the military. He wanted to prevent further damage to his eardrums.

Cox assembled and sold the suppressors in Kansas. Cox believed what he was doing was legal since the suppressors were not sold to out of state residents and marked as “Made In Kansas.” He assured Kettler that was not a violation of the law to own the unserialized suppressors as long as it did not leave the state.

The men believed the Kansas law known as the Second Amendment Protection Act protected them from the National Firearms Act, much like states have been making their own immigration and drug laws that run afoul of federal law. Kettler uploaded a Facebook video on the device which caught the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol Firearms and Tobacco (BATF).

The ATF raided Cox's store and charged him with illegal manufacturing and selling of unregistered suppressors. Federal authorities charged Kettler with possession of an unregistered suppressor. The courts convicted both men. Kettler was looking at ten years in federal prison but received one-year probation.

They would appeal to the Tenth Circuit Court of The United States. The court would uphold the conviction. The men appealed because the lower court did not allow them to use the Second Amendment Protection Act as a defense. They also argued that the Second Amendment applied to suppressors and other gun accessories.

Another issue in the case was the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) itself. To own a suppressor in compliance with the NFA, gun owners must pay a $200 tax stamp fee. Legal scholars have argued that it is direct taxation on the right to bear arms.

In Murdock v. Pennsylvania SCOTUS ruled that Pennsylvania could not tax a right. In the case, a Jehovah's Witness was soliciting donations for bibles door to door. The state imposed a licensing fee on the missionary which SCOTUS ruled was unconstitutional since it was a direct taxation of a right.

“The decision by the Supreme Court to deny cert in the Kettler case is deeply disappointing,” Erich Pratt, the executive director of GOA, said in a released statement. “Jeremy Kettler was a victim of Eric Holder’s Justice Department, who prosecuted a disabled veteran for a ‘crime’ where no one was hurt, injured or killed.”

SCOTUS has been hesitant on taking up gun cases since the landmark Heller decision against Washington D.C.'s DeFacto on handguns. The court ruled that the right to bear arms is an individual right, and D.C. was violating the Constitution.

Since that decision, SCOTUS has only taken up one firearms case. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. The city of New York, the NYSRPA is suing the city over their firearms travel ban that prevents residents of NYC from taking their guns outside the city even if it is to a second residence. The court is expected to hear oral arguments in the fall.

Big Media Declares War on Truth, Facts and the Independent Journalist

There is a war happening now on the internet. Big media has decided to run a scorched earth campaign against independent media and journalist (read pro America).

It started with Carlos Maza of Vox (an NBC Universal Company) attacking Steven Crowder for what he perceived as bullying. Crowder made several videos debunking the proud admitted Marxist’s videos. Maza plays up the fact that he is gay in his videos, mentioning it multiple times even if it has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Crowder took repeated shots at Maza for exploiting his sexual preference to avoid criticism.

Maza and media giant Vox started a campaign to get Crowder banned from YouTube. At first, YouTube refused his calls to deplatform the comedian. Maza was enraged and began contacting advertisers that advertise on the Google run site. YouTube demonetized Crowder's popular channel in response to Vox’s campaign to the platform, even though Crowder broke no rules!

Vox and Maza still were not happy with YouTube actions. Maza, who on Twitter openly called for physical violence against conservatives, believes that big media should be the gatekeepers of information.

On CBS Sunday morning Greta Van Susteren argued that the media should give people all the information in an argument and should let people decide for themselves on what side they land. Maza insisted that people do not know what is right for them, so the media's job is to gatekeep the information.

Well-funded big media websites kept piling on YouTube until there was a mass demonetization of independent creators. It just wasn't right-wing channels getting demonetized. Ford Fischer covers protest around the world. Fischer leans left on almost all issues, but YouTube demonetized all of his videos. YouTube also demonetized history videos because of big media’s pressure.

None of these YouTube creators violated any terms of service. YouTube even confirmed this fact, but the big media's threat to contact advertisers caused what came to be known on the internet as the “Vox apocalypse.”

Overnight these creators saw their livelihoods disappear. The purge left them without a way to pay rent, put food on their table, and pay their bills. Big media released articles praising YouTube for their move but insisted that YouTube go further and kick their targets off the platform.

Big media wasn't done attacking independent media sources. The New York Times wrote a front-page article about a single guy being “radicalize” by voices on YouTube. The report pointed to some right-wing creators but also led to some middle of the road creators too.

It seems like the big media’s attack on independent media isn't about left vs. right. I believe it is about the bottom line. Big media is hemorrhaging money at a record pace, and independent media is on the rise. These attacks could be their way of protecting their profits.

Vox and CNET are worth a fraction of what they were worth when purchased. Vice is dying out and struggling to keep their head about the water. People are seeking out fresh and new opinions like they get from AmmoLand News. They are searching for facts that they don’t get from big media. The Internet user of today do not want gatekeepers. They want to make up their own mind.

Is there a concerted effort to silence the voices of independent media? It certainly appears that way. What I believe is happening is that these big media giants see Vox's efforts at silencing smaller media entities working. Vox laid down the road map, and other big media misfits are following it.

One of my favorite lines from comic books is from Alan Moore's masterpiece, The Watchmen. The saying goes, “Who's watching the watchers.”

I think the answer to that question falls on all of us.

Protecting Gun Rights in Pennsylvania Takes Volunteers! You are IN but are Your Friends?

Pennsylvania is facing an unprecedented attack from Bloomberg funded progressives. These radicals are working right now to drastically change our laws in Pennsylvania, especially Article 1, Section 21 ‘and’ the 2nd Amendment.

If there is one thing progressives have proven effective at, it's getting grassroots mobilized with “boots on the ground” for the issues they are fighting for. It is something defenders of freedom need to be much better at.

Firearms Owners Against Crime has been effective at mobilizing gun owners to take action during past sessions and during election time in defending the Right to Keep and Bear Arms but we need to do far more.

We need gun owners who are not only willing to make phone calls and send emails to their elected officials, but also to attend hearings, work at gun shows, canvass neighborhoods, and more! Are your fellow gun owners that person?

Time is quickly running out before the legislative summer recess begins and before the fall municipal election cycle and legislative session takes place.

That's why your efforts are needed right away.

Videos to NEVER Forget: Pgh. City Council-Post Agenda-Hearing-2019-02-12-Strassburger-True Gun Control Agenda: https://foac-pac.org/Videos/32

Councilwoman Strassburger reveals, for anyone who ever doubted, the true agenda behind the illegal Pittsburgh Gun Control push (Time Stamp for this comment 3:35): '. . .I'm under no illusions that these three bills that we're proposing here at city council are going to solve every mass murder or suicide, or, umm ya know really make a dent in in the problem of gun deaths, homicides, violence, and accidental deaths as they relate to guns, but umm they are part of a strategy that I believe will umm work it’s way up through the state and to the federal level and umm are really important first step, so that's why we propose them. So, that’s all I’ll say'

Does 'anyone' believe the Constitution or our 'Rights are 'safe' with these people?

Founding Father’s Statement on Freedom: 'In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.' Thomas Jefferson, fair copy of the drafts of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798.

Yours in Freedom,

Kim Stolfer, President