From Rep. Scott Perry:

“It is a great day for Pennsylvania. I am grateful to Governor Corbett for signing the original Castle Doctrine into law. This will enable law-abiding citizens in our Commonwealth to defend themselves in the face of violent attack. There are many people who worked very hard over the past few years to make this bill become the law of the land.

“Our citizens who work hard and abide by the rules of decent society deserve the protection of the law. They deserve our best effort, and it is gratifying that both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor agree with this. The bill enjoyed wide bipartisan support during the process of passage and I am grateful to all who backed this effort.”

From Rep. Seth Grove:

“Governor Tom Corbett’s signature on legislation that will allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves is a victory for the people. The new law removes the duty to retreat and allows Pennsylvanians to stand their ground and fight off an attacker. This measure will allow an individual to take whatever action may be necessary to preserve his or her life and protect the safety of loved ones when legitimately threatened.

“This is one of the most popular proposals among York County residents. I have heard from so many people who are fed up with laws that protect criminals and ignore the rights of victims. The new law will provide civil lawsuit protection for those citizens who genuinely act in self defense and will hinder the attempts of criminals to seek jury awards for injuries they receive in the perpetration of a crime.

“I applaud Representative Scott Perry and all my colleagues in the House who came together to make this proposal a reality. It was a great blow to our civil rights when former Governor Ed Rendell vetoed this legislation last year, but Governor Corbett’s signature today goes to show that nothing can stand in the way of good policy.”

Rep. Grove also gave a live Facebook update while he was at the ceremony.

Rep. Stephen Bloom joined the live updates on his Facebook page, and he shared a picture of himself with several other lawmakers, NRA lobbyist John Hohenwarter, and Gov. Tom Corbett.

Rep. Keith Gillespie posted a similar picture with a number of House supporters of the bill and added this comment:

As one who would do all in my power to avoid taking someone else’s life but would protect my family to the death if necessary, I support House Bill 40, the Castle Doctine legislation. I was proud to today be in the company of Gov. Corbett as he signed the legislation into law.

Posting the same picture as Rep. Gillespie, Rep. Ron Miller added his comment:

As one of the cosponsors of House Bill 40, I was pleased to have been in attendance today as Gov. Corbett signed into law the Castle Doctrine legislation. 

Rep. John Evans also posted his comments on the bill from the signing:

The governor has signed the Castle Doctrine, which helps strengthen our right to using self-defense in the face of imminent danger. This is an important measure that we have been fighting for in the House for a long time. 

On the Senate side, a Democratic staffer tweeted this picture of two Senate supporters from the bill signing:

The NRA-ILA talked to Castle Doctrine sponsors and just released this announcement minutes after the bill was signed by Gov. Tom Corbett:

Governor Tom Corbett has signed Pennsylvania Castle Doctrine legislation into law. This common-sense measure permits law-abiding citizens to use force, including deadly force, against an attacker in their home and any place where they have a legal right to be. It also protects individuals from civil lawsuits by an attacker or attacker’s family when force is used.

“Gov. Corbett and Pennsylvania lawmakers know that law-abiding citizens must have the right to protect themselves when criminals attack without fear of being second-guessed by an overzealous prosecutor,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director, National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action. “Crime victims don’t have the luxury of time when confronted by a criminal and must be able to count on the law being on their side. This new law accomplishes that by removing any mandate of forcible retreat.”

The NRA has led the nationwide movement to pass Castle Doctrine legislation, beginning with Florida in 2005. Pennsylvania is the 27th state to adopt this important measure with overwhelming bipartisan support. House Bill 40, sponsored by Rep. Scott Perry (R-92), passed by a 164 to 37 margin. Richard Alloway, II (R-33), sponsored the companion bill to HB 40, Senate Bill 273, which passed 43-4.

“I am very gratified that Governor Corbett has signed this legislation into law, correcting the grievous error made by the previous administration in denying these long-sought protections to our citizens,” said Rep. Perry. “There are many people who have worked hard to get this legislation to this point, and I am grateful to my House and Senate colleagues and to the National Rifle Association for their support. The time has finally come to return common sense and good judgment to state government, and this legislation is a step in that direction. A criminal should never have an advantage over a citizen who abides by the rules of decent society, and today, we finally achieved the goal of returning the right of self-defense to the law-abiding.”

“Law-abiding gun owners should not have to fear prosecution for acting to prevent a violent crime,” said Sen. Alloway, who introduced Castle Doctrine legislation that was approved by the Senate in March. “I am thankful that the General Assembly has taken action to protect responsible gun owners who respond when facing a serious threat from a criminal. I would also like to thank the NRA for their strong leadership and hard work on this effort as it moved through the legislative process.”

“On behalf of NRA members and all gun owners in Pennsylvania, I would like to thank Rep. Perry; Sen. Alloway; and Gov. Corbett for their leadership in helping make Castle Doctrine a reality for Pennsylvanians,” concluded Cox. “This Castle Doctrine bill places the law on the side of law-abiding gun owners who unfortunately become victims of crime – exactly where the law should be.”

In addition to talking to the mainstream press, Gov. Corbett’s office also took to social media to spread the news with this post on Facebook:

Governor Corbett will soon sign into law the Castle Doctrine legislation that the Senate recently passed.

But anti-gun activists won’t let up. With biting commentary about lawful gun owners who choose to carry concealed firearms, they have taken to his Facebook page to respond. Here are a few of the comments from those looking to restrict our rights:

“Donna Fisher: Why do sane and sensible people have to be endangered by yahoo gun-slingers who let fear rule their lives?”

“Gavin Jensen: Good news for all those who live in the Yosimite-Sam-Dirty-Harry-gun-slinger fantasy world: you don’t have to wait for someone to come into your house before you shoot them. Now it’s legal on your front lawn! Why retreat when you can reload, right?”

“Jason Penopolis DeWitt: Actually I think Gavin has captured the overall direction of the bill. Instead of returning to your home at the first sign of trouble, you simply kill the person causing the trouble and label it “self defense”. Kill first, ask questions never.”

These are all people who clearly have not read the current law or the bill in question. Fortunately, more informed folks have made an effort to set the facts straight in the post, but it reminds us why we must contact even lawmakers who regularly support our rights and thank them for that support. We cannot let those who want to infringe upon our rights be the only voices our lawmakers hear in these debates.

Rob Ciervo HAS been endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund, and his opponent decided to vote against gun owners & self-defense advocates on every single vote of his (hopefully) short legislative career. He is running to represent Newtown, Yardley, Lower Makefield & parts of Upper Makefield in State House District 31. Incumbent Rep. Santarsiero’s grade is now a D, and he has run to anti-gun groups seeking their support for his campaign. Gun owners in and around this area can support Rob Ciervo’s campaign by visiting his website.

Tommy Tomlinson running for re-election to Senate District 6 is now rated B+ and is NOT endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund. His recent vote to restrict the reciprocity agreements of concealed carry license holders was an unexpected vote against gun owners in Southeast Pennsylvania. If you’d like to contact Sen. Tomlinson and ask him why he voted against sportsmen in his district, his office number is (717) 787-5072 and his email address is rtomlinson@pasen.gov.

Here are all of the endorsed candidates on ballots in Bucks County & the rest of Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional district:

Federal
US Senate – Pat Toomey
Congress – Mike Fitzpatrick

State
Governor – Tom Corbett

State House

• Marguerite Quinn
• Frank Farry
• Rob Ciervo
• Paul Clymer
• Gene DiGirolamo

State Senate

• Chuck McIlhinney

In the meantime, please take a few minutes to thank the members of the legislative branches of government who worked on our behalf to encourage the Supreme Court toward this position.

US Senate
Bob Casey

• Facebook

Arlen Specter

• Twitter – @SenArlenSpecter
• Facebook

US Congress
Jason Altmire

• Facebook

Christopher Carney

• Twitter – @ChrisCarneyPa10
• Facebook

Charlie Dent

• Twitter – @DentforCongress
• Facebook

Jim Gerlach

• Twitter – @JimGerlach
• Facebook

Tim Holden

• Twitter – @TimHoldenPA17
• Facebook

Paul Kanjorski

• Twitter – @kanjo4congress
• Facebook

Patrick Murphy

• Facebook

Tim Murphy

• Twitter – @RepTimMurphy
• Facebook

Joe Pitts

• Twitter – @JoePitts4PA
• Facebook

Todd Platts

• Facebook

Bill Shuster

• Twitter – @RepBillShuster
• Facebook

Glenn Thompson

• Twitter – @CongressmanGT
• Facebook

State Officials
Tom Corbett

• Twitter – @CorbettforGov
• Facebook

Joe Scarnati

Karen Boback

• Facebook

Michele Brooks

Bryan Cutler

• Twitter – @RepBryanCutler
• Facebook

Bill DeWeese

Glen Grell

• Facebook

Rob Kauffman

• Facebook

Mark Keller

• Facebook

John Maher

Daryl Metcalfe

• Twitter – @DarylMetcalfe

Merle Phillips

Kathy Rapp

RoseMarie Swanger

• Facebook

Will Tallman

• Facebook

Katie True

Well Dan Onorato is blaming Tom Corbett for the so-called “Florida Loophole,” showing that the candidate for governor in 2010 is not shy about sending his gun control views up the flag pole. This is in contrast to Ed Rendell, who conveniently dropped the issue like a hot potato during his 2002 and 2006 runs.

The biggest flaw in Onorato’s argument? Gun owners with concealed carry licenses are more law-abiding than the general population. The second biggest flaw? Tom Corbett was not yet in office to sign the Florida reciprocity agreement in 2001.

I’m convinced that Ed Rendell has convinced fellow Democrats that the NRA can’t touch them. His evidence? His two terms, and Barack Obama’s ten point win in this state. Except Rendell ran against two lackluster candidates, and so did Barry. Corbett isn’t a weak candidate. He’s a hard campaigner and a good fundraiser.

It’s absolutely important we send Dan Onorato packing this fall, or it’s going to be over for us in Pennsylvania. Democrats will say the NRA can’t hurt them, only then they will be right.

Most in the media have made the assumption that Onorato is supportive of gun rights simply because he lives outside of the Philadelphia area.  If you look at the facts, those assumptions simply don’t hold water.  Looking back at the positions taken during the primary campaign, Dan Onorato was only outflanked on the left by Joe Hoeffel.  Post-primary, his positions are still more anti-gun than many of NRA’s most ardent foes in Harrisburg.

On this list of some of the “big” issues right now, Onorato has come out against gun owners 75% of the time. The other two issues are unknowns, or he would support other government officials in their quest for more gun control. That’s not what we usually consider “on our side” in the gun owning community.

Flipping the issue over to look at the issue from the gun control handbook from CeaseFirePA, their big issues show a similar breakdown. Onorato is with them 85% of the time, and they classify the remaining 15% of the positions as unknown – not in opposition to their agenda. Only Joe Hoeffel scored more points with CeaseFirePA. Though Sen. Tony Williams did tie with Onorato, he took a firmer stand against their policies when he didn’t agree with the gun control group.

Another way to look at Onorato’s position is to compare them to recent votes in the Judiciary Committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. To prove the comparison of being with the pro-gun side of the Democratic Party false, I’ve broken these charts down by NRA grade. All lawmakers are Democrats.

This table shows that Onorato is farther to the left on recent gun rights policy debates than two of the four F-rated lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee.

Looking at some who probably fall on the left of the issue, and another lawmaker who falls squarely in the middle of the issue based on previous grades. Onorato’s policies fall in line with the D- legislator, but he’s exactly the opposite of two other D legislators and our single C-rated representative on the committee. That doesn’t seem to be very pro-gun.

All of these lawmakers are probably the “right flank” of the gun issue for the Democratic Party since they are all A-rated or higher. Most of them carry the NRA’s endorsement. And yet Dan Onorato doesn’t agree with them on anything – from banning guns to gutting gun laws to even a law dealing with self-defense in your own home.

The only truth you may hear is that Onorato’s running mate, Scott Conklin for Lt. Governor, has held a high NRA rating in the past. That is the truth, and he has even carried their endorsement in his race for state representative. Unfortunately for Rep. Conklin, due to the policy proposals of his gubernatorial running mate, it is likely that NRA will not support his run for higher office this year. The Republican candidate for Governor, Tom Corbett, has an excellent record on the Second Amendment issues we’re facing today, and has enjoyed the endorsement of NRA in previous statewide elections.

Lt. Governor – Democratic Nomination
It’s still a nail biter – and there will likely be ballot challenges in some ares – but early results show that State Rep. Scott Conklin has come out of no where as a late entry to the race to possibly topple the state party endorsed candidate out of Philadelphia, Jonathan Saidel. In his last election to the state House, Rep. Conklin had an A rating from NRA and earned their endorsement. With 99.2% of precincts reporting at about 9am, Conklin leads by 4,654 votes. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the lead grows as the final votes come in.

Senate District 14 – Democratic Nomination
NRA endorsed State Rep. John Yudichak had a commanding victory over anti-gun mayor Tom Leighton. This seat is likely to remain in Democratic hands, as it has been for decades, so the Democratic primary was essentially the election to watch. Leighton is a member of Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun coalition calling for an end to gun shows in Pennsylvania. We congratulate Senator-elect Yudichak for his decisive victory.

Governor – Republican Nomination
Either of the candidates in the Republican primary would have been great for gun owners. They both had strong records of defending the Second Amendment, and we’re very proud to see Attorney General Tom Corbett carrying the banner into November. Of course, we also regret that the State Rep. Sam Rohrer will be departing the State House since he opted not to run for his local seat during the primary. Hopefully his replacement in the seat will be as worthy of the support of gun owners as Rep. Rohrer has been over the years.

Senate District 22 – Democratic Nomination
This is a mixed bag election for gun owners. On one hand, the NRA backed candidate – State Rep. Jim Wansacz – did not make the final cut for November. On the other hand, the extreme anti-gun Mayor of Scranton did not survive either. A dark horse candidate won the race, and we hope to find out more about his position on guns rights in the future. This is his first elected office, and he was backed by the retiring pro-gun Senator for this open seat. For anti-gun Chris Doherty, this is his second setback in a few months after his campaign for governor floundered. Calling in the big guns, the anti-gun leader brought in Bill Clinton to record phone calls for him, though it did no good.

Overall, we’re sending a great message to Harrisburg: Your anti-gun candidates will not survive the electoral games this year. It doesn’t matter if you have the backing of Michael Bloomberg and his ally Bill Clinton, NRA members will make sure your race goes down in defeat.

Now comes the harder part where we step in for the final months to turn out the vote in November. We need your help to make sure Harrisburg and Washington are filled with pro-rights supporters.

However, the anti-gun crowd is in such desperate shape that they do have to give out points for even acknowledging their existence.

After sportsmen flooded the Capitol yesterday with hundreds of activists, the anti-gun crowd was feeling a little left out of the limelight. So today they organized a conference call to issue grades for the gubernatorial candidates.

Democrats:

• Joe Hoeffel: A
• Anthony Williams: A-
• Dan Onorato: B+
• Jack Wagner: C+

Republicans:

• Sam Rohrer: D
• Tom Corbett: F

According to the Allentown Morning Call‘s John Micek, the group gave credit to Representative Sam Rohrer because he was willing to acknowledge their existence by taking time to complete their questionnaire and return it. Attorney General Tom Corbett, on the other hand, ignored them.

We will feature more information from the CeaseFire questionnaire this week.  Their responses may surprise you if you haven’t been following the race closely.

[Comment From Adam Z]
Hello, I have asked this question to some of the other candidates so here is the question…Could you please state your stance on Gun Owners Rights? For example, there is a current piece of legislation in the PA House – HB 40. Here is a summary of the bill, as a reference point…”Short Title: An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing, in general principles of justification, for definitions, for use of force in self-protection, for use of force for the protection of other persons and for licenses to carry firearms; providing for civil immunity for use of force; and further providing for sentences for offenses committed with firearms. ” In other words, this is a type of “Castle Doctrine” legislation where someone would be protected legally if they were defending themselves or loved ones not only in their homes, but also out in public. This legislation would stipulate that the person defending themselves could not be the agitator or instigator of said event and also not engaged in any type of illegal activity. Also, it would protect individuals in civil court from being sued from families of criminals during the process of roberry or some sort of criminal acitivity. Could you please explain your stance on this piece of proposed legislation and your opinion on rights of Gun Owners in general?

Tom Corbett: I support the use of force, including deadly force when warranted, within the home.
Tom Corbett: I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and am a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, which is why I have tripled the number of concealed carry reciprocity agreements and signed on with Attorneys General to challenge the handgun bans in Washington DC and Chicago.

According to Adam, he submitted a follow-up question that was not published. It may have been due to the fact that Attorney General Corbett got to up leave the chat before final questions were even posted and without acknowledging those who took their lunch hour to learn more about him.

Today, Micek welcomes Attorney General Tom Corbett to the online roundtable. Gen. Corbett’s last grade with the NRA was an A+.

If you plan to submit any questions relevant to sportsmen, let us know on Twitter @PAGunRights.

Republicans
Tom Corbett

• Twitter: @CorbettForGov
• Facebook

Sam Rohrer

• Twitter: @samrohrer
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Democrats
Joe Hoeffel

• Twitter: @joehoeffel
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Dan Onorato

• Twitter: @dan_onorato
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Jack Wagner

• Twitter: @wagnergov2010
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Anthony Williams

• Twitter: @williams4pagov
• Facebook

Because the Second Amendment’s text recognizes a “right,” not a “power,” and guarantees that right to “the people” and not “the States,” it necessarily secures an individual right to keep and bear arms. The First, Fourth, and Ninth Amendments likewise protect the “rights” of “the people,” and none dispute that those Amendments protect individual rights. The Tenth Amendment, in turn, expressly distinguishes between “the States” and “the people,” demonstrating that the Framers knew well the difference. And, this Court has made clear, “the people” is a term of art, with the same meaning throughout the Bill of Rights.

In his attack, Hoeffel called Washington, DC’s gun ban a piece of “sensible gun safety legislation.” He didn’t stop there, Hoeffel called the monumental civil rights case a “frivolous lawsuit.” In fact, Hoeffel also defended Chicago’s gun ban, also calling the McDonald v. Chicago case a challenge to “sensible gun safety legislation.” Of course, the McDonald case had even more support among state leaders with 38 Attorneys General signing on to the individual rights incorporation view.

To illustrate just how out-of-touch Hoeffel’s position is with even his core constituency, not even the Brady Campaign considers a ban to be sensible legislation! They did not side with Chicago in the latest case, and their president has stated since 2008 that gun bans are off the table in the gun rights debate. Even gun control groups agree that Joe Hoeffel’s views on the Second Amendment are too extreme!

It should come as no surprise that the American public doesn’t agree with Joe Hoeffel’s interpretation of civil rights, either. Yesterday also marked the release of an NSSF poll that found 80% of Americans believe that state and local governments must honor the Second Amendment.

Date:
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
6:30pm – 9:30pm
Doors open at 6:00pm

Location:
Crystal Tea Room-Wanamaker Building
One Hundred Penn Square East, Ninth Floor

Candidates Attending:
United States Senate – Peg Luksik, Pat Toomey
Pennsylvania Governor – Tom Corbett, Sam Rohrer
Additional offices represented:

• Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor
• 1st Congressional District
• 2nd Congressional District
• 6th Congressional District
• 7th Congressional District
• 8th Congressional District
• 13th Congressional District

Details:
Cash Bar
Business Casual Attire
RSVP – pamelawarren1@comcast.net

Attorney General Tom Corbett joined more than three dozen other state law enforcement officials in a brief filed on behalf of the petitioners.

The right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment is a “fundamental” liberty interest subject to incorporation against the States. Indeed, in the Anglo-American tradition, it is among the most fundamental of rights because it is essential to securing all our other liberties. The Founders well understood that, without the protections afforded by the Second Amendment, all of the other rights and privileges ordinarily enjoyed by citizens would be vulnerable to governmental acts of oppression. As St. George Tucker wrote, the right protected by the Second Amendment “may be considered as the true palladium of liberty” because “[t]he right to self-defence is the first law of nature,” and wherever “the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.” …

Accordingly, the Court should hold that the Second Amendment also secures a “fundamental” right that can no more be abrogated by local government than by the federal government.

In addition to Attorney General Corbett’s work with other state leaders, female lawmakers from around the country signed on to a brief that included representation from Pennsylvania. Representatives Karen Boback (R-117), Michele Brooks (R-17), Kathy Rapp (R-65), RoseMarie Swanger (R-102), and Katie True (R-41) all signed the brief that specifically represents the concerns of plaintiff Colleen Lawson, a 51-year-old hypnotherapist who survived a home invasion by three criminals while she was at home and sick with the flu.

In Heller, this Court emphasized that the text of the Second Amendment was the driving force behind the Court’s decision to find an individual right to firearms possession. This right includes the right to possess a handgun within the home. The Court’s previous Fourteenth Amendment selective incorporation jurisprudence is sufficient on that basis alone to hold Chicago’s handgun ban unconstitutional. However, because of the special importance to women of owning handguns, the Court could also consider incorporating that right using the Court’s privacy and personal autonomy jurisprudence protected by substantive due process. Not only would this approach be jurisprudentially consistent, but it could serve to strengthen the arguments that the rights of privacy and personal autonomy are likewise incorporated even though unenumerated.

Finally, Pennsylvania was also represented by members of the House and Senate alongside more than 875 other leaders in the general state lawmaker brief in favor of the plaintiffs. Representatives Michele Brooks (R-17), Bryan Cutler (R-100), Bill DeWeese (D-50), Glen Grell (R-87), Rob Kauffman (R-89), Mark Keller (R-86), John Maher (R-40), Daryl Metcalfe (R-12), Merle Phillips (R-108), Kathy Rapp (R-65), and Will Tallman (R-193) joined Senator Joe Scarnati (R-25) in signing this brief.

As State officials, we seek the assistance of this Court in securing the fundamental rights of our constituents and resolving ongoing uncertainty over the validity of State legislation regulating firearms.

Since this Court affirmed the fundamental right of the individual to keep and bear arms in District
of Columbia v. Heller, the States have been plagued by uncertainty surrounding the validity of their various ordinances and regulations on individual possession and use of firearms. In many instances, this uncertainty has impeded our ability to legislate.

In fact, we and many of our colleagues are reluctant to review, draft, or enact laws that impact this fundamental right, without interpretative guidance from this Court. Although we have no doubt that this fundamental individual right, embodied in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, is incorporated as against the States by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, this Court should use this case to confirm incorporation now.

We thank each of these lawmakers for choosing to join the right side of history in this case. If your representatives aren’t on the state lawmaker brief, you might consider dropping them a note to ask why they did not join.