In the race for governor, four Democrats and two Republicans made it on the ballot successfully. On the Democratic side, we’ve covered their positions on gun control before, except for Sen. Tony Williams who was not in the race at the time. His last NRA rating was D – hardly a friend to the Second Amendment in Pennsylvania.

In the category of Lieutenant Governor, there was only one noteworthy surprise. State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe filed rather unexpectedly for the office on the Republican side. Both Democrats and Republicans have already endorsed in the race, and that support usually brings with it access to party support. This morning, Rep. Metcalfe is expected to formally launch his bid for Lt. Gov. at the State Capitol today. While Rep. Metcalfe has been a dedicated friend to gun owners, with the late start, a general lack of name recognition statewide to the broader electorate, and lack of a party endorsement, his campaign will likely be an uphill battle. That might explain why he has also filed paperwork to run for his state house seat again at the same time.

In Congress, the competitive races fill up pages on the candidate list. Consider that the race to oust Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper includes a two-way primary on the Democratic side and a six-way competition on the Republican side. Over in the Southwest, the competition to take former Rep. John Murtha’s seat has a new set of twists and turns. After Mark Critz won his party’s support for the special election to fill the rest of the term, former Treasurer Barbara Hafer announced she would still challenge him in the primary for the election in November. However, after filing the paperwork last night to be on the ballot, she has already dropped out this morning. Regardless, that still leaves a four-way race for the Democratic nomination and two-way competition for the GOP nomination in the 12th District.

In PA-8, Rep. Patrick Murphy has lined up four Republican challengers, two of whom have been recognized by the NRCC for meeting high campaign benchmarks. In PA-13, the quest to unseat Rep. Allyson Schwartz has three GOP candidates on the ballot. The two counties comprising the district split on their endorsements and a third candidate stayed in the race to take advantage of the split. In PA-19, Rep. Todd Platts has challengers on both tickets, but he is expected to keep the seat.

Though some seats are considered extremely safe based on general popularity of the incumbent or makeup of the local electorate, it is noteworthy that only one Congressional seat has no challengers at all this year – that is PA-9 represented by Rep. Bill Shuster.

In the state house, there are few surprises. We’ve covered the retirements fairly thoroughly. And we’ll try to do a detailed breakdown for each area soon. But, a quick check shows that some of our friends aren’t being challenged while others are. The seats with the most names on the ballot are House districts 194, 195 and 199 and Senate district 22. The first two each have seven Democrats and a single Republican while the latter House district has seven Republicans and one Democrat. The Senate district also has seven Democrats with one lone Republican.

Congressmen Bob Brady (D, PA-01) and Chakah Fattah (D, PA-02) joined a brief filed in favor of upholding a ban on handguns. In it, the Congressmen made the bizarre arguments that federal restrictions on fully automatic firearms dating from the 1930s clearly show that the Chicago handgun ban is constitutional. To further their “evidence,” they cite previous federal laws that merely acknowledge the existence of state firearms laws – such as those banning the use of firearms by violent felons – as reason to consider an outright ban to be legal. They seem to forget the Court made clear in Heller that bans are not merely legally debatable restrictions.

The following Pennsylvania Representatives also refused to stand up for Second Amendment rights, but they also avoided signing on to an outright attack on them:

• Kathleen Dahlkemper (D, PA-03)
• Joe Sestak (D, PA-07)
• Allyson Schwartz (D, PA-13)
• Mike Doyle (D, PA-14)

In 2008, Sen. Hutchison lead an effort to organize a record number of members of Congress to sign a pro-individual rights brief in the Heller case. At the time, both Sen. Bob Casey and Arlen Specter signed onto the brief. In the House, 13 members of the Pennsylvania delegation signed the brief, including the 19th District’s Cong. Todd Platts. These members argued:

As Federal officials, we have a fundamental interest in protecting the constitutional rights of our constituents and the American people in general. …

The Second Amendment provides: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Congress adopted that wording and proposed it to the States in 1789. It became part of the Bill of Rights which the States ratified in 1791. As the text and the drafting history demonstrate, the Amendment was intended to guarantee the right of individuals to possess and keep ordinary firearms.

What stands out are Pennsylvania’s members of Congress who refused to support such an interpretation and sought to deny an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. Cong. Patrick Murphy (PA-8), Allyson Schwartz (PA-13), and Joe Sestak (PA-7) refused to sign on to the brief, ultimately ending up on the wrong side of history. Two other members of the delegation, Cong. Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah, actually lead the opposition by filing a brief making a claim that the Second Amendment is limited to militia service. Interestingly, not a single member of the Court agreed with this claim. Even the dissent brief acknowledged the individual right to own arms.

At this time, no members of the Pennsylvania delegation have indicated whether they will sign on to this brief or not. It would be reasonable to expect the same result with this brief, though we will keep you informed as names are announced.

Of highest importance, S. 941and H.R. 2296 rewrite the system of administrative penalties for licensed dealers, manufacturers and importers of firearms. Today, for most violations, BATFE can only give a federal firearms license (FFL) holder a warning or revoke the license. S. 941and H.R. 2296 would allow fines or license suspensions for less serious violations, while still allowing license revocation for the kind of serious violations that would block an investigation or put guns in the hands of criminals. This will help prevent the all-too-common situations where BATFE has revoked licenses for insignificant technical violations—such as improper use of abbreviations, or filing records in the wrong order.

The Senate bill currently has 13 sponsors from both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, neither of Pennsylvania’s Senators have signed on to the reform package. Contact Sen. Bob Casey at 1-866-802-2833 and Sen. Arlen Specter at 202-224-4254 to request their support for this important reform.

The House bill currently has 175 sponsors from both parties, and it includes 11 Pennsylvania Representatives. Residents of Pennsylvania’s 19th district should thank Rep. Todd Platts for his support at 1-877-902-1919. Unfortunately, Representatives Patrick Murphy and Allyson Schwartz have not signed on to support the bill yet. You can contact Rep. Murphy at 202-225-4276 and Rep. Schwartz at 202-225-6111 to suggest they sponsor the bill.

This year, the August recess is scheduled to run from August 3 to September 7.

If you would like to schedule a meeting to air concerns about any issues, check out the area district office contact information:

U.S. Senators
Arlen Specter
Upper Bucks/Montgomery Counties: Allentown
504 W. Hamilton, Suite 3814, Federal Building
Allentown, PA 18101
Phone: 215-597-7200

Philadelphia and Lower Bucks/Montgomery Counties: Philadelphia
600 Arch Street, Suite 9400
Philadelphia , PA 19106
Phone: 215-597-7200

Adams/York/Cumberland Counties: Harrisburg
228 Walnut Street, Room 1104, Federal Building
Harrisburg , PA 17101
Phone: 717-782-3951

Bob Casey
Upper Bucks/Montgomery Counties: Allentown
840 Hamilton Street, Suite 301
Allentown, PA 18101
Phone: 610-782-9470

Philadelphia and Lower Bucks/Montgomery Counties: Philadelphia
2000 Market Street, Suite 1870
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215-405-9660

Adams/York/Cumberland Counties: Harrisburg
22 S. Third Street, Suite 6A
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717-231-7540

U.S. Congress
Patrick Murphy, PA-8
Philadelphia, Lower Bucks Counties: Bristol
414 Mill Street
Bristol, PA 19007
Phone: 215-826-1963

Montgomery, Upper Bucks Counties: Doylestown
72 North Main Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: 215-348-1194

Allyson Schwartz, PA-13
Montgomery County: Jenkintown
706 West Avenue
Jenkintown, PA 19046
Phone: 215-517-6572

Philadelphia County: Philadelphia
7219 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19135
Phone: 215-335-3355

Todd Platts, PA-19
Adams County: Gettysburg
22 Chambersburg Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Phone: 717-338-1919

Cumberland County: Carlisle
59 West Louther Street
Carlisle, PA 17013
Phone: 717-249-0190

York County: York
2209 East Market Street
York, PA 17402
Phone: 717-600-1919

Top concerns about the gun issue for Senators Casey and Specter are the confirmation of anti-Second Amendment Sonia Sotomayor and the appointment of anti-hunting Cass Sunstein to the office of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (aka Regulatory Czar). In the House, Congressmen Murphy, Schwartz, and Platts should be questioned on opposition or support for the DC gun rights amendment to the DC voting rights bill. At this time, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to bring up the bill for a vote out of fear that the House might support basic gun rights for residents of the District of Columbia.

If you would like to meet with other gun owners to conduct a meeting with Congressional staff, please let your local EVC know. You can contact us via this web form.