Oct. 26, 2016
HARRISBURG— A bill sponsored by Rep. Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery) to reduce gun violence has passed the House and Senate and is on its way to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature.
House Bill 1496 targets individuals who are not permitted to possess firearms because of felony convictions or adjudications.
Currently, a felon who is convicted of illegally possessing a firearm faces a second-degree felony and a maximum sentence of five to 10 years. House Bill 1496 increases the grading for this offense to a first-degree felony to provide for a maximum possible punishment of 10 to 20 years for repeat offenders or if the person personally possesses the firearm on his person.
“Felons who illegally possess guns are the root cause of much of the gun violence on our streets and this bill will allow judges to punish these violent offenders more severely for their actions,” explained Stephens, a former county and federal firearms prosecutor.
Representative Todd Stephens
151st District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: David Foster
dfoster@pahousegop.com
RepToddStephens.com/
Facebook.com/RepToddStephens