What Constitution? Pennsylvania governor vows to veto bill that would expand concealed carry rights

What Constitution? Pennsylvania governor vows to veto bill
that would expand concealed carry rights 1

HARRISBURG, PA – The Republican-led Pennsylvania House voted to expand concealed-carry rights for the citizens of the state. Although the bill has passed, the Democratic Governor has promised to veto it as soon as it lands on his desk.

The House for the State of Pennsylvania passed a bill that would allow for gun owners to carry their firearms throughout the state without having first obtained a concealed carry permit.

While gun proponents are seemingly thrilled at the move, Democrats in the House believe that writing a bill like this into law will only cause gun violence to rise.

The bill, known officially as Senate Bill 565, passed in a vote of 107-92. Of that total number, all but eight Republicans voted for approving the bill while four Democrats jumped party lines and voted for the bill as well.

Regardless, the bill is doomed to fail once it hits the Governor’s desk who has already vowed to veto it.

Republican House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff does not believe the passing of the law will cause an increase in gun violence, even though the minimum age for carrying concealed firearms would be lowered to 18.

Benninghoff believes that it only extends the constitutional carry rights for those who are “law-abiding Pennsylvanians.” Benninghoff said:

“The bill changes nothing regarding who can legally own a gun and takes nothing away from law enforcement from going after those owning and using guns illegally.”

If by some miracle, Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf were to sign the bill into law, the state would join twenty-one other states that already allow persons who legally own firearms to carry concealed without a permit. It is unknown how the citizens of the state would accept the bill since the state is already open carry.

Regardless of what proponents of the bill think, Wolf has “promised” to veto the bill. On Twitter, he wrote:

“It’s not a threat [to veto]. It’s a promise to Pennsylvanians. I’ve made it clear that I would veto legislation that risks the safety of our communities. #SB565 would allow anyone to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. It’s not getting past my desk.”

Democrats who are against the bill have rallied around Wolf and others who tried desperately to stop the bill before it passed in the House.

As the bill was being argued, Democrats who were against the bill argued that passage of it would impact gun violence which would specifically harm black families. Others tried the argument that the passage of the bill would increase dangers to law enforcement.

Democratic State Representative Peter Schweyer decried the effort at passing the bill since everyone knew that Wolf had no intention of signing it into law. He believed that the bill was nothing more than a way to cause grief to family members of those people whose lives were lost due to gun violence.

He said:

“For people outside of this room, our words and our actions matter.”

Another Democrat who opposed the bill, State Representative Emily Kinkead, noted that certain crimes involving guns had increased in Arizona and Missouri after similar laws had passed.

Kinkead noted that aggravated assaults with firearms increased 44 percent in Arizona while suicides increased among young adults by 7.2 percent in Missouri.

While there may be no denying these percentages, it is unclear if those numbers are truly reflective of the law change or if there were other factors at play.

Republican State Representative Joe Kerwin does not believe Kinkead’s or other Democrat arguments against the bill, saying that passage of the gun law would not increase gun violence.

He also noted that even though these fears are always brought up, “every single time these fears never materialize into reality.”

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Far-left Pennsylvania Governor Wolf admits wife dropped off his ballot, which is against the law

HARRISBURG, PA- During a recent radio appearance, Democrat Governor Tom Wolf admitted that he had his wife drop of his mail ballot, which unless a rare exception, is illegal in Pennsylvania for all people.

Wolf spoke to KDKA radio host Kevin Battle on election day and discussed his own voting habits. Wolf said:

“I didn’t show up in person at the polls. We voted a couple weeks ago, actually. My wife actually dropped it off personally two weeks ago, so it’s there.”

After the revelation was made that the practice the governor admitted to was illegal, a spokesman for the governor went on record calling it an “honest mistake.” Pennsylvania election law currently prohibits most individuals from having a third person turn in their ballots.

The only exceptions to this rule are for voters with disabilities or ones who select a representative to return an emergency absentee ballot for them. State Rep. Seth Grove was quick to point out Wolf’s violation. On Twitter Grove wrote:

“On Nov. 2, Gov. Wolf did an interview with KDKA where he disclosed his wife turned in his mail-in ballot for him. This is illegal under the election code. BUT would have been legal had he signed HB 1300.”

Pennsylvania House Bill 1300 (HB 1300) is an election integrity bill that the Pennsylvania legislature approved. Reportedly, HB 1300 would have allowed members of the same household to return each other’s ballots. 

Additionally, the bill would have expanded access to early voting, required signature verification of mail ballots, and implemented voter identification. In June, Wolf vetoed this bill because of the voter ID requirement. He alleged that it advances forms of voter repression. 

In a memo detailing is rejection, Wolf wrote:

“This bill is ultimately not about improving access to voting or election security, but about restricting the freedom to vote.”

At the time, in response to the vetoed bill, Grove said:

“To say I am disappointed in Wolf’s lack of action is an understatement. Though Wolf has put on blinders to problems within our election process, it doesn’t mean the problems do not exist.”

He blasted the governor on social media, writing:

“Today Gov. Wolf has done a tremendous disservice to the voters and county election officials by vetoing HB 1300 after never engaging in negotiations with the General Assembly.”

A spokesperson for Wolf responded to allegations of Wolf breaking the law by having his wife drop off his ballot instead of doing it himself as state law requires by saying, “it was an honest mistake.”

In a text exchange on Thursday, November 4th, Grove said:

“It’s law. You can’t hand in more than 1 ballot.”

He added that Frances Wolf dropping off the governor’s mail-in ballot would have been legal had his bill been enacted. State law currently requires voters who do not mail their absentee or mail-in ballot to “deliver it in person to their county board of election.” 

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office in York County, where Wolf lives, said:

“The office was unable to confirm or deny the existence of any criminal investigation until such time as charges or are not filed against the individual.”

According to Pennsylvania law, delivering someone else’s mail-in ballot is punishable under the law with up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine. 

Editor note: In 2020, we saw a nationwide push to “defund the police”.  While we all stood here shaking our heads wondering if these people were serious… they cut billions of dollars in funding for police officers. 

And as a result, crime has skyrocketed – all while the same politicians who said “you don’t need guns, the government will protect you” continued their attacks on both our police officers and our Second Amendment rights.

And that’s exactly why we’re launching this national crowdfunding campaign as part of our efforts to help “re-fund the police”.

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