The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted a petition for allowance of appeal in a case that challenges a Philadelphia ordinance banning privately manufactured firearms (PMF).
The case was filed in state court by Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) after the City of Philadelphia passed a city ordinance that restricted the manufacturing of firearms, components, and attachments for personal use by residents. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and former Mayor Jim Kennedy both claimed that so-called “ghost guns” were flooding the streets of the City of Brotherly Love, leading to an epidemic of gun violence, even though the raw data doesn’t back that conclusion.
The ordinance doesn’t just ban building guns from 80% frame kits such as those sold by the now defunct Polymer80, but it also forbids the making of firearms via additive manufacturing such as 3D printing. Nowhere else in the state is this practice banned, and state law doesn’t say you can’t 3D print a gun. In fact, Pennsylvania is the home of the Makers Match, which is a shooting competition that uses 3D-printed firearms.
The plaintiffs in the case claimed that the city was breaking Pennsylvania law when the ordinance was passed. The Keystone State has one of the strongest preemption laws in the country, meaning that a city cannot make its own gun laws, although it appears that Philadelphia did just that. Nothing in commonwealth law bans PMFs, so the city should be forbidden from creating a ban.
The plaintiffs also claim that the ordinance violates the Pennsylvania Constitution, which guarantees the right to bear arms, much like the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Both claims fell on deaf ears when a lower court heard the case. The lower court is notoriously anti-gun and ruled against the plaintiffs. GOA appealed the decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last year.
Much like the United States Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court doesn’t have to take a case because a petition was filed. They agreed to hear arguments in this case, which is a good sign for gun owners in Philadelphia. The hope is that the Commonwealth Supreme Court will correct the lower court’s errors.
GOA and GOF were hopeful that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would restore the rights of the citizens of Philadelphia and send a message to other localities across the Commonwealth that violating the state’s preemption law and the right of citizens to keep and bear arms will not be tolerated.
“Philadelphia’s efforts to regulate firearm manufacturing go against the core of Pennsylvania’s firearm preemption law and violate the rights of its citizens,” said Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt. “With the Pennsylvania Supreme Court now agreeing to hear this case, we are hopeful that Pennsylvanians’ rights will be protected from Philadelphia’s unconstitutional tyranny at the local level.”
“This is a critical moment for gun owners across Pennsylvania,” said Sam Paredes on behalf of Gun Owners Foundation. “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to take up this case shows the importance of safeguarding our enumerated right to keep and bear arms. Philadelphia’s overreach needs to be stopped, and we believe the court will uphold the law and protect citizens’ rights.”
The outcome of this case will have a rippling effect across the state.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
