HARRISBURG -
Some of Pennsylvania's clergy say a state house bill being considered will increase gun violence and deaths, while supporters contend the bill simply expands your right to self-defense.
Dozens of clergy members crowded the steps in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning to rally against House Bill 40. The group had gathered at the Capitol to watch a House Judicial Committee Public Hearing on the bill.
The piece of legislation eliminates the "duty to retreat" if you are confronted by an attacker. It also expands the so-called "castle doctrine." That's a piece of common law that states your home is your castle and can be defended with deadly force.
"The bill restores the human right to self-defense, which has been eroded away by our criminal judicial system," John Hohenwarter with the National Rifle Association said.
The bill states someone who fears serious injury, death, kidnapping or rape can use deadly force against an attacker without fear of prosecution or civil suit.
"This is clafifying and offering protections to people who act in self-defense," Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association founder David Pehrson said. "Criminals shouldn't have the right to victimize you and then double-victimize you by suing you if you defend yourself," he said.
Clergy Opposition
"It just sets us up for more tragedy and more grief," Rev. Kathy Harvey Nelson of Red Lion said. Members of the religious group Heeding God's Call watched Thursday's hearings on a TV monitor set up in the Capitol rotunda.
"I visualize deaths in the streets all over the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania if they pass this," Bishop Kermit Newkirk of the Harold O. Davis Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia said.
Law Enforcement Reaction
The Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Police Chiefs Association and Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association oppose the bill. Law enforcement leaders fear an escalation in violnce. They also worry drug dealers and other criminals will use the bill to claim self defense, though the bill prohibits such a claim if people use deadly force while committing a crime.
"The concern I have there is proving that an individual was actually involved in illegal activity at the time," Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said.
House Bill 40 has more than 100 co-sponsors.
Dozens of clergy members crowded the steps in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning to rally against House Bill 40. The group had gathered at the Capitol to watch a House Judicial Committee Public Hearing on the bill.
The piece of legislation eliminates the "duty to retreat" if you are confronted by an attacker. It also expands the so-called "castle doctrine." That's a piece of common law that states your home is your castle and can be defended with deadly force.
"The bill restores the human right to self-defense, which has been eroded away by our criminal judicial system," John Hohenwarter with the National Rifle Association said.
The bill states someone who fears serious injury, death, kidnapping or rape can use deadly force against an attacker without fear of prosecution or civil suit.
"This is clafifying and offering protections to people who act in self-defense," Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association founder David Pehrson said. "Criminals shouldn't have the right to victimize you and then double-victimize you by suing you if you defend yourself," he said.
Clergy Opposition
"It just sets us up for more tragedy and more grief," Rev. Kathy Harvey Nelson of Red Lion said. Members of the religious group Heeding God's Call watched Thursday's hearings on a TV monitor set up in the Capitol rotunda.
"I visualize deaths in the streets all over the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania if they pass this," Bishop Kermit Newkirk of the Harold O. Davis Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia said.
Law Enforcement Reaction
The Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Police Chiefs Association and Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association oppose the bill. Law enforcement leaders fear an escalation in violnce. They also worry drug dealers and other criminals will use the bill to claim self defense, though the bill prohibits such a claim if people use deadly force while committing a crime.
"The concern I have there is proving that an individual was actually involved in illegal activity at the time," Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said.
House Bill 40 has more than 100 co-sponsors.
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