A top gun-rights group is challenging the state-ordered shutdown of “non-essential” businesses because of the coronavirus outbreak, and leading Second Amendment advocates say more could be in store.
Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, said his group filed a case on Friday asking the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to block Democratic governor Tom Wolf from including gun stores in a statewide shutdown of “non-essential” businesses. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has told Gov. Wolf he has until 8 p.m. on Friday to respond to the arguments in the case.
“Weapons and ammunition retailers are one of the most essential business types in the United States,” Combs told the Washington Free Beacon. “There is no ‘except in emergencies’ clause in the Constitution and the government cannot shut down the people’s right to keep and bear arms.”
Government mandates shuttering businesses in several states have raised the prospect that more gun retailers could be ordered to shut their doors. California and Pennsylvania have already started shutting down businesses other than grocery stores, gas stations, and other “life-sustaining” industries, as Wolf described them. Atleast one gun store near San Jose has been forced to close in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, according to a Mercury News report.