In Crawford v. Commonwealth, No. 19-EAP-2022 (Pa. Nov. 20, 2024), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of state preemptive firearm laws that prohibit municipalities from passing local gun regulations. Advocates for stricter gun laws filed a petition for review under the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court’s original jurisdiction, asking the court to declare as unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful two statutory provisions that prohibit the enactment of local legislation on the subject: Section 6120 of the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act of 1995, 18 Pa.C.S. Section 6120, and Section 2962(g) of the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, 53 Pa.C.S. Section 2962(g). Generally, these provisions prohibit local governments from enacting or enforcing ordinances that regulate the ownership, transportation, possession, or transfer of firearms.

Crawford was heard en banc at the Commonwealth Court, and ultimately the court sustained preliminary objections in a plurality decision and dismissed the petition for failure to state claims upon which relief could be granted (demurrer). Petitioners filed an appeal seeking review of the Commonwealth Court’s decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The city of Pittsburgh, the city of Scranton, and several other Pennsylvania local governments and officials submitted amici curiae briefs in support of the appeal.