Week Ending Oct. 24: Game Wardens Now Need a Warrant

SB 1431, the game warden warrant bill, is now law in Pennsylvania as Act 115 of 2026. The NFA fix for suppressors and short barreled rifles and shotguns, SB 1503, still has no hearing, and the session ends November 30.

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Game wardens now need a warrant.

The game warden warrant bill is now law
in Pennsylvania. Here’s how it got there, and what’s still on the
table before the session ends.

SB 1431 is now law

SB 1431 requires Game Commission
officers to have a warrant before going onto private property outside
of buildings, posted or not. On October 20, two attempts to weaken it
failed on the House floor, 100 to 103 and 99 to 104.
One of those amendments would have let officers enter “under a
judicially recognized exception to the warrant requirement” instead of
only with a warrant. The next day the House passed SB 1431 203 to 0,
the Senate agreed 50 to 0, and the governor signed it on October 22 as
Act 115 of 2026. Here’s
the bill.

The NFA fix still has no hearing

SB 1503, the Senate sponsor’s bill to
fix Pennsylvania’s NFA trap for suppressors and short barreled rifles
and shotguns, is still in Senate Judiciary with no meeting scheduled.
HB 1604 is still waiting in the Senate, and HB 2808, the 1% tax on
guns and ammo, is still in House Judiciary. The session ends
November 30, and any bill that hasn’t passed by then
dies.

From the federal courts and Congress

On October 21, a unanimous panel of the
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the federal switchblade ban on
interstate sales unconstitutional, holding that knives are “Arms”
under the Second Amendment. You
can read the opinion here.

Meanwhile, 20 Democratic senators
signed an October 16 letter pressing Attorney General Todd Blanche to
go back to enforcing the federal ban on dealer handgun sales to adults
aged 18 to 20, even though DOJ’s own lawyers have concluded that ban
is unconstitutional. They asked for answers by November 16.
That’s why this can’t rest on who runs DOJ. Congress should
repeal the ban outright.

On October 19 the Supreme Court turned
away the challenge to Maine’s 72 hour waiting period. Turning a case
down is not a ruling on the law itself. The AR 15 ban cases are still
set for argument on December 2.

The Pennsylvania Firearms Association
will be watching SB 1503 the minute the politicians are back.

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For Freedom,
Chris
Dorr
Director
Pennsylvania Firearms Association