Weapon rules shift for electric self-defense devices

Summary#

Pennsylvania SB 1503 would amend Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, which covers crimes and offenses. It would change which weapons count as “prohibited offensive weapons” and remove an instruction-label condition for using an electric or electronic incapacitation device in self-defense. The bill states no separate goal. It has been introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee; it is not law.

  • Bombs, grenades, blackjacks, sandbags and metal knuckles would remain prohibited offensive weapons. Machine guns, short-barrel shotguns and certain firearms made or adapted for concealment or silent discharge would not count as prohibited offensive weapons if possessed in compliance with Pennsylvania’s firearms law and applicable federal law.
  • Stun guns, stun batons, tasers and other electric or electronic weapons would not count as prohibited offensive weapons if possessed in compliance with the existing rules in section 908.1.
  • A person could possess and use such a device in reasonable-force defense of themselves or their property under Chapter 5 without the bill’s current requirement that the device have clearly written instructions about use and possible damage.
  • The bill would remove a separate defense based on compliance with the National Firearms Act. It would take effect 60 days after enactment.

What it means for you#

  • People possessing the listed firearms: The bill would make compliance with Pennsylvania firearms law and applicable federal law a condition for those weapons not to count as prohibited offensive weapons. It would not make non-compliant possession exempt.
  • People possessing or using electric incapacitation devices: The bill would remove the requirement for written instructions as a condition of the self-defense provision. The requirement to use reasonable force under Chapter 5 would remain.
  • People charged under these provisions: The bill changes the definition of prohibited offensive weapons and removes the separate National Firearms Act compliance defense. The bill text does not set out how these changes would affect a particular case.
  • General public: The bill does not directly create a new public program, benefit, fee or fine.

Money#

No publicly available information on public costs, savings, fees or enforcement costs.

  • The bill does not state a cost estimate, provide funding or specify staffing.

What is unclear#

  • The current versions of the amended laws were not supplied, so the full effect against current law cannot be verified beyond the deleted and added text shown in the bill.
  • The bill does not explain the existing requirements for possessing an electric or electronic incapacitation device under section 908.1 beyond the self-defense language it changes.
  • It does not set out application, review, appeal or reporting procedures.
  • It does not give an enactment date; the 60-day start period would run only if the bill became law.

Case for#

  • The bill appears intended to distinguish certain weapons possessed in compliance with state and federal law from weapons classified as prohibited offensive weapons.
  • A possible argument for the change is that a person’s compliance with the laws that regulate those firearms should matter to how they are classified under this provision.
  • Removing the written-instructions condition could make the self-defense rule depend on reasonable force and Chapter 5, rather than on whether instructions came with the device.

Case against#

  • One concern is that the new firearm exception depends on compliance with both Pennsylvania and federal law, but the bill does not explain how that compliance would be established in a case.
  • The bill removes a requirement for written instructions about use and possible damage. That could mean less safety information is required for the self-defense provision.
  • The bill removes the separate National Firearms Act compliance defense while adding compliance language to the weapon definition. The practical effect of that change in specific cases is not explained.