I have trouble just keeping up with bills in DC and my own state, so I missed this Pennsylvania victim disarmament bill until this morning. But once I heard about, I knew I had to check for the devil in the details; they’re always there. And I’ve learned that looking for the worst case scenarios hidden in legislation is worthwhile.
I’m not up on the political scene in Pennsylvania, so I can’t say how likely this is to pass and get signed into law. I hope in-state human/civil rights supporters have this on their radar.
First, the bill requires mere private citizens to register every firearm other than some antiques. That’s bad enough.
The registration process would a pain in the nether regions. Two passport-style photos taken within the past 30 days, fingerprinting, background checks. Any crime of “violence” — not just felony, or misdemeanor domestic violence — ever is a disqualifier. There is no “shall issue” in this; the State Police can still deny your registration.
And should they deny your application, you’ll have a mere ten days to get a lawyer and file an appeal. If you lose, you’ll have to dispose of the firearm(s) you naively told them you have. That’s another devilish detail; there is only one legal way to do so: Turn it over to the State Police. No compensation. You can’t sell it, or move it out of state.
Registration would be annual. And being the cynical sort — think of the nastiest implementation of a law, and plan for it — I see another potential problem.

Applications for renewal shall be made by a registrant 60 days prior to the expiration of the current registration certificate.

That’s rather specific. Not within 60 days of expiration, not no later than 60 days prior to. 60 days exactly.
State Police: “Sorry, Mr. Smith. Your renewal application is 61 days before your registration expires. Disapproved! Turn in that gun.”
Sucker: “But your office is closed tomorrow. Can I renew on Monday?”
SP: “Nope. That would be 58 days, past the deadline.”
And then we get to Section 5. Additional duties of registrant. I’ll just skip past the parts about notifying the police of thefts and any change in any detail on your registration certificate (did I mention you have to carry that around with the firearm, not safely stored in your file cabinet?) within 48 hours.

(3) Keep a firearm in the registrant’s possession unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock, gun safe or similar device unless the firearm is in the registrant’s immediate possession and control while at the registrant’s place of residence or business or while being used for lawful recreational purposes within this Commonwealth.

You might think that’s the usual (un)safe storage requirement that victim disarming politicians have been trying to foist on honest gun owners, in an effort to provide safe workplaces for criminals (hard to shoot a violent intruder with a locked up defensive tool). Read it again. Slowly.
Unloaded, and disassembled or locked away. With only threeexceptions.
1. In the registrant’s immediate possession and control while at the registrant’s place of residence.
2. In the registrant’s immediate possession and control while at the registrant’s place of business (and that has to be listed on your registration application).
3. While being used for lawful recreational purposes.
There are no exceptions for defensive carry. I suppose you could argue that shooting bad guys is fun, but that might trash your self-defense claim.
There are no exceptions for transporting the firearm from residence to work (or recreational shooting area). There are no exceptions for taking it to a self defense class.
I think that was intentional. It looks like it was modeled on the New York City restriction currently being appealed to the Supreme Court, but written to evade any favorable — to gun owners — SCOTUS ruling: We don’t restrict where you can take it, like NYC did. It just has to be nonfunctional while you transport it.
Please tell me Pennsylvania RKBA groups are on this and will stop it.
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