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GOA, GOF Demand that PA Governor Tom Wolf Reopen Gun Ranges

May 28, 2020
For immediate release

GOA, GOF Demand that PA Governor Tom Wolf Reopen Gun Ranges

Springfield, VA – Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) are demanding that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf reopen gun ranges within the Commonwealth.

In a letter from GOA and GOF, Erich Pratt and Dr. Val Finnell write: “[F]or seemingly no legitimate reason other than political agenda, Pennsylvania has refused to follow the Department of Homeland Security’s classification of Second Amendment businesses including shooting ranges as ‘Essential Critical Infrastructure.’”

The letter argues that both outdoor and indoor ranges can operate safely during the COVID-19 pandemic and that constitutionally-protected rights are not suspended because of an emergency: “[S]hooting ranges permit the necessary exercise of the enumerated constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Protected by both the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the right to keep and bear arms necessarily implicates the right to practice and maintain proficiency with firearms.”

“[GOA and GOF] request that you immediately amend your shut down order as it has been applied to close firearm shooting ranges within the Commonwealth. We urge you to bring Pennsylvania into line with the vast majority of other states that have allowed shooting ranges to continue operation, and into line with the DHS CISA Memorandum, and federal and state constitutional requirements,” the letter concludes.

The letter can be viewed here.

A GOA spokesperson is available for interviews. Gun Owners of America, and its sister organization Gun Owners Foundation, are nonprofits dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.

— GOA —