Pennsylvania AG Won't Defend Controversial Gun Law

By Alison Smith (Patch Staff)

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has reportedly declined to defend the state’s controversial gun law.

Act 192, signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett in October, allows gun-rights groups to sue Pennsylvania municipalities that enact their own gun-control laws. The law is scheduled to take effect this month, but the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lancaster have sued to stop that from happening, CBS said.

State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Mongtomery and Delaware), who is among the lawmakers suing to stop the implementation of Act 192, said it “can only be described as a gift to the NRA.”

A Kane spokeswoman told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the Attorney General will not be representing the commonwealth against those challenges.

“The attorney general determined it would be more efficient and in the best interest of the commonwealth for the Office of General Counsel to handle this matter,” Kane’s spokeswoman, Renee Martin, told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

This is the second time that Kane has declined to represent the commonwealth in a legal challenge, the Inquirer said; 18 months ago, she declined to defend Pennsylvania against a challenge to its same-sex marriage ban.

Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office