Gov. Wolf Vetoes 3 Bills Related To Firearms, Energy Production

HARRISBURG, PA — Gov. Tom Wolf this week vetoed three bills. Two were firearms-related and the third dealt with oil and gas production regulations.

Wolf vetoed House bills 1747 and 2440, both dealing with firearms. He also vetoed Senate Bill 790, which would have eased some restrictions for those in the oil and gas industry.

House Bill 1747, sponsored by Republican Matthew D. Dowling, sought to amend the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in firearms and other dangerous articles, providing for prohibited conduct during declared emergencies.

Specifically, the bill addressed language that states: "No person shall carry a firearm upon the public streets or upon any public property during an emergency proclaimed by a state or municipal governmental executive unless that person is actively engaged in a defense of that person's life or property from peril or threat."

Wolf, in a veto message, said the legislation would limit emergency powers related to firearms during emergencies. "While the powers repealed under this legislation were not utilized in response to the COVID-19 disaster emergency, the ongoing pandemic underscores the need for flexibility in the law to deal with unforeseen and unfathomable situations," Wolf wrote.

House Bill 2440, sponsored by Allegheny County Democrat William C. Kortz II, would have designated shooting ranges, sportsman clubs, hunting facilities and business relating to the sale and production of firearms and ammunition as "life-sustaining."

"Instead of assisting with efforts to control the COVID-19 virus, this bill attempts to unnecessarily carve out shooting ranges, sportsman clubs, hunting facilities and the firearm industry from any mitigation efforts," Wolf said in a veto message. "This bill represents another meaningless attempt to alter the necessary tools for fighting the pandemic."

The third bill vetoed by Wolf would have amended regulations for conventional producers of oil and gas. But Wolf said Senate Bill 790, sponsored by Republican Sen. Joseph B. Scarnati III, "does not adequately protect the environment and the public health and safety of citizens of the Commonwealth, and would contribute to a legacy of environmental degradation."

Wolf said the bill would roll back protections on drinking water, allow more spills to go unreported, and avoid erosion and sediment control permitting requirements.

"This legislation poses an unacceptable risk to the environment and public health and safety of our citizens," Wolf wrote in a veto message.

This article originally appeared on the Across Pennsylvania Patch