A handgun and ammunition sit on a wooden table.
PITTSBURGH – Pennsylvanians convicted of minor drug crimes are going to court to challenge state law that prevents them from carrying concealed firearms.
Gun Owners of America sued last week in Pittsburgh federal court on behalf of those denied a license to carry firearms because of convictions of the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, “irrespective of the facts of the underlying offense or the offender’s peaceful nature.”
Denial of LTCF eligibility keeps them from carrying a concealed handgun on their persons or traveling with it in their vehicles. Possession of a small amount of marijuana would result in the offender unable to ever carry a concealed weapon.
“In this action, Plaintiffs do not challenge… denials for those who have been convicted of serious CSDDCA offenses which render them ineligible to possess firearms,” the suit says, “but rather only CSDDCA-related denials for those who remain otherwise eligible to possess firearms under state and federal law, but are denied…”
GOA is joined by Craig Philips, an honorably discharged Air Force and Gulf War veteran who was convicted of a misdemeanor for selling a small amount of marijuana in 1994. Statements from GOA say the state is treating Philips like a “second-class citizen” even though he served his country and has obeyed the law for more than three decades.
The group points at the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 18 ruling in United States v. Hemani. That decision struck down a federal law prohibiting “unlawful users” or “addicts” from possessing firearms as a violation of the Second Amendment.
“The Supreme Court has made clear that the government cannot simply label peaceable citizens as ‘dangerous’ and erase their Second Amendment rights,” said John Velleco, executive vice president of GOA.
“Pennsylvania’s lifetime carry ban is sweeping, automatic, and historically indefensible. Under Bruen and Hemani, the Commonwealth bears the burden of proving this kind of permanent disarmament is consistent with our nation’s historical tradition and it cannot meet that burden.”
Beyond concealing and carrying a firearm, the denial of a license to carry complicates Pennsylvanians’ rights to bear arms outside of their homes for lawful self-defense, the suit says.
