At gun show, ‘extreme risk’ gun bill met with concern

Some say innocent people could lose weapons

CLINTONVILLE, Pa. — Richard Meals sat behind a row of long banquet tables. On them, he displayed 106 long guns and roughly 30 handguns for sale Sunday morning at the Clintonville Volunteer Fire Department in Venango County.

Clintonville Fire Chief Gerry Rea, who has organized the Presidents Day weekend gun show for 13 years, shuffled between the hall’s entrance, concession stand and 84 vendor tables.

Just beside the Clintonville Lions Club fundraiser table, Robert Hovas stood with his 11year-old granddaughter behind a display of pre-1900 revolvers.

All three men said they had heard of “extreme risk protection orders” — which allow a judge to take guns away from someone threatening to harm themselves or others — but they remained doubtful about them.

“A lot of people say stuff they don’t mean. I’m afraid they would use it as another angle to take their guns,” said Mr. Meals, a registered firearms dealer who runs Riverview Sportsman Supply in Parker, Pa., Armstrong County.

“On the surface it seems like it

has some merit,” said Mr. Hovas, who lives in nearby Emlenton and collects antique guns. “But I’m skeptical of any government.”

Pennsylvania Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, introduced such a measure Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which a teen gunman killed 17 students and staff members.

“It’s time that our state law backs families who are trying to protect innocent people while getting their loved ones the help they need,” Mr. Fontana stated in a Thursday news release. “If my proposal were in place, it very well may have prevented both the Parkland and Squirrel Hill shootings. Inaction is no longer an option.”

Mr. Fontana’s proposed bill, SB 293, would allow family or household members as well as members of law enforcement to petition county judges to remove firearms for up to a year from a person who poses an “extreme risk.”

Fourteen states already have similar laws.

At the Clintonville gun show, anxiety about such measures circled around whether an innocent person could be targeted — say, by a vengeful lover or family member.

“Let’s say you have an exwife — ‘I know my husband had a lot of guns. Here’s my chance to put the screws to him,’” said Paul Starr of Butler, who was shopping and enjoying the “camaraderie” Sunday. “Those are the things that worry me.”

Under the proposed Pennsylvania law, petitioners would need to provide a sworn affidavit that detailed a “significant danger,” the number and location of the person’s firearms and whether the person had another protection order against him or her, and identify any pending litigation between the two parties.

A judge would be required to order a hearing within 14 days, but an exparte order could be issued to remove firearms immediately.

According to the proposed bill, a judge would need to consider relevant evidence to remove someone’s firearms access, including a pattern or acts or threats of violence, a serious mental illness or previous criminal offenses.

Others at the gun show expressed concerns over where and how confiscated guns would be stored.

“I have mixed feelings. If the person is legitimately going to hurt themselves or someone else, then yes,” said Chief Rea as his toddler grandson hugged his legs on the vendor floor. “But another thing that they’re not considering is … they are 100 percent responsible for your guns, your ammo, and everything you have. [They need] good, dry safe lockers. They can’t return them to you all rusted out. … Where are they going to come up with all this room? Who’s going to be in charge of making sure they’re locked up and secured?”

State Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery County, introduced an extreme risk protection order last session, but the bill never made it out of the Judiciary Committee. He cited risk of suicide by firearms as a main reason for the bill and recently issued a cosponsorship memo.

Mr. Fontana’s bill is now also in the Judiciary Committee.

Other states that have introduced such measures include Connecticut in 1999, California in 2016, and several others that followed in 2018.

Mr. Fontana said he hopes to “seek common ground and workable solutions that prevent gun violence while preserving Second Amendment rights.”