{"id":269738,"date":"2026-08-21T20:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T20:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/269738\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T20:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T20:42:11","slug":"bill-would-protect-pennsylvania-firearms-license-holders-from-unconstitutional-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/269738\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill would protect Pennsylvania firearms license holders from unconstitutional requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"

PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) \u2014 Several representatives are supporting legislation that would clarify the interaction between Pennsylvania law and the National Firearms Act<\/a> (NFA).<\/p>\n

In a memo<\/a> circulated by Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-Franklin), and co-sponsored by four additional representatives including local Rep. Dallas Kephart (R-Cambria\/Clearfield), the legislation would ensure that Pennsylvania residents are not required, as a condition of lawful possession under state law, to comply with federal requirements that have been declared unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 5, United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled that elements of the NFA registration and advance-approval system are unconstitutional in Silencer Shop Found. v. BATFE\u00a0(2026)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The court ruled that Congress originally authorized the requirements on silencers, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns to support the collection of NFA taxes, but with the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a> on Jan. 1, taxes on making and transferring NFA firearms were eliminated.<\/p>\n

While Pennsylvania is not one of the 15 plaintiff states, and the court’s injunction was not nationwide, the decision has created uncertainty around the lawful acquisition of these firearms in Pennsylvania, according to the memo.<\/p>\n

Current Pennsylvania law still requires compliance with NFA to buy silencers, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns, but on Aug.13, Silencer Shop Found. v. BATFE\u00a0(2026) went into effect as the Federal government failed to appeal within the allotted timeframe.<\/p>\n

“Law-abiding residents should not face potential criminal liability under Pennsylvania law because of uncertainty surrounding federal requirements that may no longer be enforceable against them,” said Kauffman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get the latest news, weather forecasts and sports stories delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up for our newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can read more about the final judgement of Silencer Shop Found. v. BATFE\u00a0(2026) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ | Your News Leader.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) \u2014 Several representatives are supporting legislation that would clarify the interaction between Pennsylvania law and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[113745,113744,113743,28,30,6576,29,97863,113742],"class_list":["post-269738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-dallas-kephart","tag-james-wesley-hendrix","tag-national-firearms-act","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-law","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-rob-kauffman","tag-silencer-shop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}