Lawyer: By Declaring Opioid Epidemic A Statewide Emergency In Pennsylvania, Firearm Rights Were Limited In The Process

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf declared the heroin and opioid epidemic a statewide disaster emergency on Tuesday but in "the process enacted a statute by the PA General Assembly years ago," said Joshua Prince, a lawyer at The Prince Law Offices in Pennsylvania, explained on The Rich Zeoli Show on 1210AM WPHT.

"It is automatic when a governor issues a proclamation of emergency, this section of the Law 6107 applies, where it prohibits anyone from carrying a firearm on any public streets or any public property during that emergency," he said.

On whether Gov. Wolf could choose not to invoke the statute, Prince said,"This section of the code (6107) does not have any discretionary aspect to it; it automatically applies as soon as there is any proclamation of emergency.

"I don't believe Gov. Wolf knew that by issuing this proclamation it would trigger this prohibition. He has been surprised by the amount of people calling his office who are frustrated and concerned about this issue. It seems as though that they were caught completely off guard by it."