PA: Governor’s Proposed Budget Includes Millions Of Dollars For ‘Backdoor’ Gun Control

February 23, 2026
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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's latest budget proposal isn't just about roads and schools—it's smuggling in millions for a so-called Office of Gun Violence Prevention and bloating the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) bureaucracy, as flagged by Gun Owners of America (GOA). This isn't your garden-variety funding hike; it's a classic backdoor gun control play, funneling taxpayer dollars into an unelected office primed to push universal background checks, red flag laws, and trauma-informed interventions that sound benevolent but erode Second Amendment rights one common-sense regulation at a time. GOA is rallying lawmakers to defund this beast before it hatches, warning that Shapiro's blueprint could supercharge PICS denials and delays, turning a simple purchase into a Kafkaesque ordeal for law-abiding Pennsylvanians. Dig deeper, and the context screams agenda: Shapiro, a Democrat with eyes on national office, mirrors Biden-era tactics where gun violence prevention offices in places like New York and Illinois have morphed into advocacy hubs for assault weapon bans and ammo taxes. Pennsylvania's PICS already flags far more prohibited persons than federal NICS—over 100,000 denials since 1998—yet Shapiro wants to expand it without legislative oversight, potentially importing federal ghost gun rules or merchant category codes to track your FFL visits. For the 2A community, this is a red line: it's not prevention, it's preemption, preemptively disarming citizens under the guise of public safety while violent criminals bypass the system entirely. The implications? If this budget sails through, expect a domino effect—more state-level gun grabs emboldening feds, higher costs for Pennsylvanians fighting back in court (GOA's already gearing up), and a blueprint for blue-state governors nationwide. 2A warriors, now's the time to flood Harrisburg with calls: tell your reps to zero out this funding and protect the right to keep and bear arms. Shapiro's playing chess; let's flip the board. Stay vigilant—your rights depend on it.

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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s latest budget proposal isn’t just about roads and schools—it’s smuggling in millions for a so-called Office of Gun Violence Prevention and bloating the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) bureaucracy, as flagged by Gun Owners of America (GOA). This isn’t your garden-variety funding hike; it’s a classic backdoor gun control play, funneling taxpayer dollars into an unelected office primed to push universal background checks, red flag laws, and trauma-informed interventions that sound benevolent but erode Second Amendment rights one common-sense regulation at a time. GOA is rallying lawmakers to defund this beast before it hatches, warning that Shapiro’s blueprint could supercharge PICS denials and delays, turning a simple purchase into a Kafkaesque ordeal for law-abiding Pennsylvanians.

Dig deeper, and the context screams agenda: Shapiro, a Democrat with eyes on national office, mirrors Biden-era tactics where gun violence prevention offices in places like New York and Illinois have morphed into advocacy hubs for assault weapon bans and ammo taxes. Pennsylvania’s PICS already flags far more prohibited persons than federal NICS—over 100,000 denials since 1998—yet Shapiro wants to expand it without legislative oversight, potentially importing federal ghost gun rules or merchant category codes to track your FFL visits. For the 2A community, this is a red line: it’s not prevention, it’s preemption, preemptively disarming citizens under the guise of public safety while violent criminals bypass the system entirely.

The implications? If this budget sails through, expect a domino effect—more state-level gun grabs emboldening feds, higher costs for Pennsylvanians fighting back in court (GOA’s already gearing up), and a blueprint for blue-state governors nationwide. 2A warriors, now’s the time to flood Harrisburg with calls: tell your reps to zero out this funding and protect the right to keep and bear arms. Shapiro’s playing chess; let’s flip the board. Stay vigilant—your rights depend on it.

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