Pennsylvania Supreme Court Greenlights Mandatory Gun Store Closures

[Valin]

Washington Free Beacon

PA gun stores shut down on Monday

Stephen Gutowski

March 23, 2020

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Sunday night denied an emergency request that would have blocked a gubernatorial order mandating the closure of gun retailers in response to the novel coronavirus.

The order to shut down gun stores was part of a larger plan set forth by the state's Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, mandating the closure of businesses not deemed "life-sustaining." Gun-rights advocates asked the state's Supreme Court to block the order as it applied to gun retailers, but the seven-member court denied the request.

The court's decision comes as Pennsylvanians and Americans more broadly have flooded gun stores. Industry officials said sales had spiked as much as 300 percent last week due to concerns of relaxed law enforcement during the outbreak and some retailers even reported running out of stock—at least temporarily. While the first states to implement aggressive shutdown measures have split on whether they would include gun stores, the country's top gun-rights groups have threatened more legal action.

The governor's order went into effect on Monday as a result of the court's decision. It is unclear how long the order will remain in place.

(Snip)

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