PRINTER'S NO. 1073
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.983
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY C. WILLIAMS, MARCELL, CUTLER, SHAFFER AND BONNER,
MARCH 20, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 20, 2025
AN ACT
Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in firearms and other dangerous
articles, further providing for persons not to possess, use,
manufacture, control, sell or transfer firearms and for sale
or transfer of firearms and providing for Gun Violence Task
Force in cities of the first class .
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 6105(d.1)(3) and 6111(d.1)(3) of Title
18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to
read:
§ 6105. Persons not to possess, use, manufacture, control, sell
or transfer firearms.
* * *
(d.1) Concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute.--The following
apply in a city of the first class where the Attorney General
has operated a joint local-State firearm task force:
* * *
(3) This subsection shall not apply to any case
instituted [two years after the effective date of this
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20 subsection.]:
(i) after September 2, 2021, and before the
effective date of this subparagraph; or
(ii) after December 31, 2026.
* * *
§ 6111. Sale or transfer of firearms.
* * *
(d.1) Concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute.--The following
apply in a city of the first class where the Attorney General
has operated a joint local-State firearm task force:
* * *
(3) This subsection shall not apply to any case
instituted [two years after the effective date of this
subsection.]:
(i) after September 2, 2021, and before the
effective date of this subparagraph; or
(ii) after December 31, 2026.
* * *
Section 2. Title 18 is amended by adding a section to read:
§ 6129. Gun Violence T ask Force in cities of the firs t class.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) A joint local-State firearm task force is
established in each city of the first class, which shall be
known as the Gun Violence Task Force.
(2) The Gun Violence Task Force shall be under the
authority of the Attorney General.
(b) Powers and duties.--
(1) The Gun Violence Task Force shall investigate and
prosecute violations of sections 6105 (relating to persons
not to possess, use, manufacture, control, sell or transfer
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30 firearms) and 6111 (relating to sale or transfer of
firearms), and similar offenses under Federal law, in a city
of the first class.
(2) The Gun Violence Task Force shall initiate
prosecutions only in a Federal or State court located in a
city of the first class.
(3) The Gun Violence Task Force may utilize
investigatory teams under subsection (e).
(c) Composition.--
(1) The Gun Violence Task Force shall include, at a
minimum:
(i) The Attorney General or deputy attorneys
general.
(ii) Members of the office of the district attorney
in a city of the first class.
(iii) Law enforcement officers of the Attorney
General.
(iv) Law enforcement officers of a city of the first
class.
(v) Law enforcement officers of the Pennsylvania
State Police.
(2) The Gun Violence Task Force may include, as
determined by the Attorney General:
(i) Federal law enforcement officers.
(ii) Other Commonwealth law enforcement officers
located in a city of the first class.
(iii) Other local law enforcement officers located
in a city of the first class.
(iv) Campus police officers located in a city of the
first class.
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30 (v) Transit agency police officers located in a city
of the first class.
(d) Funding.--The Gun Violence Task Force shall be funded
from annual General Fund appropriations to a joint local-State
firearm task force in a city of the first class. Funding shall
be under the control of the Attorney General.
(e) Investigatory teams.--The Attorney General may empanel
individualized investigatory teams that work in conjunction with
and under the purview of the Gun Violence Task Force.
(f) Notice.-- Each law enforcement agency that is a member of
the Gun Violence Task Force shall notify the Gu n Violence Task
Force of any arrest or other criminal action or proceeding
involving an alleged violation of section 6105 or 6111 within 48
hours of the arrest or of instituting the action or proceeding.
(g) Preemptive jurisdiction over certain offenses.--
(1) The A ttorney General may assert preemptive
prosecutorial jurisdiction over any criminal actions or
proceedings, including proceedings for the forfeiture or
condemnation of property under 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 58 (relating to
forfeiture of assets), for which the Attorney General has
jurisdiction under section 6105 or 6111.
(2) Any assertion of preemptive prosecutorial
jurisdiction under this subsection shall be within the sole
discretion of the Attorney General, who shall consider the
totality of the circumstances in deciding whether to assert
that jurisdiction, including:
(i) Whether the alleged violation of section 6105 or
6111 is the lead charge and the severity of any other
offense charged in conjunction with the alleged violation
of section 6105 or 6111.
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30 (ii) The criminal history record information of the
alleged offender, including whether the offender was
previously convicted of an offense under this chapter.
(iii) Whether the Gun Violence Task Force was
involved in the investigation of the alleged violation of
section 6105 or 6111.
(iv) Whether the Gun Violence Task Force has
sufficient resources to prosecute the alleged offender.
(v) Whether the alleged offender utilized a firearm
during the commission of a felony.
(vi) Whether the alleged offender is involved or
associated with the sale, manufacture, distribution or
delivery of any controlled substance or counterfeit
controlled substance in violation of the act of April 14,
1972 (P.L.233, No.64), known as The Controlled Substance,
Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act.
(vii) The impact of the alleged offense on the
victim or the community.
(viii) Whether the alleged offender's commission of
the offense violated the terms and conditions of a
sentence or bail bond.
(ix) Any other relevant or aggravating circumstances
that would tend to support the assertion of preemptive
prosecutorial jurisdiction.
(3) The Attorney General may not assert preemptive
prosecutorial discretion under this subsection if the
offender unlawfully possessed a firearm during the commission
of murder of the first degree or second degree or a crime of
violence, as that term is defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9714(g)
(relating to sentences for second and subsequent offenses),
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30 unless upon written request by the Police Commissioner of a
city of the first class.
(4) Subject to paragraph (5), in cases in which the
Attorney General asserts preemptive prosecutorial
jurisdiction under this subsection, no other prosecuting
entity for the Commonwealth shall have authority to act,
except as authorized by the Attorney General. No person shall
have standing to challenge the authority of the Attorney
General to prosecute the cases, and, if any challenge is
made, the challenge shall be dismissed and no relief shall be
available in the courts of this Commonwealth to the entity
making the challenge.
(5) The Attorney General may not assert preemptive
prosecutorial jurisdiction under this subsection in a case
where jurisdiction also exists in a county other than a
county of the first class unless the Attorney General
requests in writing to the district attorney in the county
other than the county of the first class to assert preemptive
prosecutorial jurisdiction and the district attorney in the
county other than the county of the first class accepts the
request in writing.
(6) Any grant of jurisdiction to the Attorney General
under section 6105 or 6111 shall be exclusive to the Gun
Violence Task Force.
(7) The provisions of this subsection shall expire
December 31, 2026.
(h) Annual reports.--
(1) By October 1 of each year, the Attorney General
shall make an annual report on the operation of the Gun
Violence Task Force to:
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30 (i) The Appropriations Committee of the Senate.
(ii) The Appropriations Committee of the House of
Representatives.
(iii) The Judiciary Committee of the Senate.
(iv) The Judiciary Committee of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Each report under this subsection shall contain the
following information for the previous fiscal year regarding
the Gun Violence Task Force:
(i) T he number of members, per agency, serving on
the Gun Violence Task Force.
(ii) The total number of arrests in a city of the
first class for alleged violations of section 6105 or
6111, including separately the total number of arrests by
the Gun Violence Task Force.
(iii) The total number of bills of information filed
for alleged violations of section 6105 or 6111, including
separately the total number of bills filed by the Gun
Violence Task Force.
(iv) The total number of convictions resulting from
prosecutions under subparagraph (iii), including
separately the total number of convictions resulting from
prosecutions by the Gun Violence Task Force.
(v) The sentences imposed for each conviction under
subparagraph (iv), including separately the sentences
imposed for each conviction resulting from a prosecution
by the Gun Violence Task Force.
(vi) The number of firearms seized by the Gun
Violence Task Force.
(vii) A summary of expenditures, including any money
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30 appropriated for the Gun Violence Task Force in a
previous year that is carried over or unspent.
Section 3. This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) The addition of 18 Pa.C.S. § 6129 shall take effect
in 90 days.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
immediately.
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