A Pennsylvania bill to ban privately manufactured firearms (PMF), whether built from a kit or 3D printed, will be voted on in the Commonwealth’s General Assembly tomorrow.
The bill, known as House Bill 777 (HB 777), has advanced to the House floor for a third reading. After the reading, the House is expected to vote on it. Democrats in the House have a slight majority and appear to have the votes to advance the bill to the Senate, where it will face an uncertain fate.
The bill will ban the sale or transfer of DIY gun kits from companies like Polymer80 and 80% Arms. Residents of the Keystone State will also be prohibited from buying unserialized gun parts to make firearms unless they are licensed manufacturers. The bill will also restrict the 3D printing of guns, taking away a fundamental right. If passed, violating the proposed law would be a felony of the third degree.
Philadelphia Democrat Morgan Cephas introduced the bill, and it has 62 co-sponsors. Cephas is using the violence in the City of Brotherly Love as an excuse to advance the bill. According to Cephas, so-called “ghost guns” are the root of the crime problem in the city, although others point to the under-prosecution of criminals by District Attorney Larry Krasner.
The law doesn’t just refer to 3D-printed firearms and 80% kits. It also refers to suppressors and split or modular frames. Many guns, including popular Sig Sauer models, use a modular chassis that can be swapped out and is sold unserialized over the counter. The actual fire control unit (FCU) is the serialized part of these firearms. By the letter of the law, these frames could be banned, but everyone AmmoLand News spoke to on the topic was not sure where guns like the Sig P320 fall within the law, creating a gray area.
Even though the bill will require some Republican support to reach PA Governor Josh Shapiro’s desk, there are still some concerns. In 2023, nine Republicans crossed the aisle and voted for universal background checks (UBC) and extreme risk protection orders (ERPO), also called “red flag laws.” Shapiro himself has made it his personal mission to ban homemade firearms and attended the Biden Rose Garden ceremony to announce the ATF rule prohibiting the sale of PMF kits.
AmmoLand News reached out to Gun Owners of America (GOA) Director Val Finnel to get his take on the chances of the bill’s passing. GOA has worked closely with companies inside Pennsylvania, such as JSD Supply, to push back against such bans. He is concerned about the possibility of some Republicans buckling under pressure from anti-gun activists.
GOA has set up a contact page to contact members of the House to urge them to vote against the possible ban.
“HB 777 would make you a felon for building a P80 kit or assembling your own AR with an 80% lower unless the parts are serialized,” Finnel said. “The radical Democrats who are pushing this bill have a razor-thin majority, and the only way they can pass it is with some Republican support. Unfortunately, nine Republicans voted for Universal Registration Checks and Red Flag Gun Confiscation orders in 2023. GOA has been putting enormous pressure on these nine RINOs to vote no on HB 777.”
If the bill passes, gun owners will have 60 days to serialize their frames through a federal firearms licensee (FFL) or turn their items over to the police for destruction. Gunsmiths will no longer be permitted to work on any unserialized firearms.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. Mr. Crump has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
