Rep. Joe Hogan, R-Penndel, speaks on the House floor recently.

A pair of state House Republicans are jumping onto a Senate bill that would create tougher punishments for thefts from gun stores.

Rep. Joe Hogan, R-Penndel,and Rep. Kathleen Tomlinson, R-Bensalem, are circulating a co-sponsorship memorandum for legislation they are drafting that would create a heightened penalty for burglary when the thief tries to steal a firearm while also allowing the youths to be tried as adults if they are caught stealing from a gun store.

The bill will also create additional penalties for stolen guns that are used in further crimes.

“Many gun store robberies are perpetrated like an organized crime and include co-conspirators to assist them in stealing from gun stores,” Hogan and Tomlinson wrote in their co-sponsorship memorandum. “One of the more disturbing actions is that juveniles are organized by adults to rob gun stores because if caught they face lesser penalties. This happened recently in my district. The prosecutor should have the opportunity to try these juveniles as adults because of the intent that is associated with this crime and since this crime is going to spawn much more dangerous and potentially deadly crimes in the future.”

The bill is similar to legislation that was being drafted by state Sen. Frank Farry, R-Bucks, along with fellow Republicans Tracy Pennycuick and Joe Picozzi as part of a multi-bill package of crime-related bills being drafted in the spring of 2025. The lawmakers mentioned the use of juveniles to steal from gun stores on behalf of adults because juveniles face lesser penalties in court, which they say happened recently in Bucks and Montgomery counties. The lawmakers think juveniles should be tried as adults in such cases.

The bill was introduced as Senate Bill 916 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee in July. It has not moved since.

In 2024, Warren County recently saw a gun store theft resulting in charges against two Jamestown men. Damion Dalton and Tyler Dalton allegedly stole several guns from the Tall Tales Sporting Goods on Market Street, Pine Grove. According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by the State Police at Warren, two men entered the property, approaching the north side of the building to damage or alter electrical wires to the building. They allegedly broke the front window of the store and stole five AR rifles. The men then ran north, eventually ending up in Jamestown where they were eventually caught.