Gov. Tom Corbett recently signed House Bill No. 1989, which recognizes the Piper airplane and the American long rifle as official cultural items of Pennsylvania’s past.

While such bills seem frivolous on the surface, they can be valuable to future generations’ understanding and appreciation of Pennsylvania’s rich history. One would assume someone in state government would try to get the history correct and vet such bills before passing them.

What a shame Pennsylvania — the nationally recognized home of the American long rifle — would celebrate one of its finest artifacts by passing a proclamation in which the history as written is fundamentally wrong. The bill rambles with platitudes containing unproven attributions, historical errors and opinionated statements.

For example, the long rifle did not play an important role in the early years of the industrial revolution — it was handmade — not part of a trend toward manufacturing. The Pennsylvania rifle is not the first American firearm — the New England musket holds that title. It was not developed solely by those gunsmiths in Northampton County as this bill implies.

And why use Lancaster’s Martin Meylin, a yet-to-be-proven gunsmith, as an example of a pioneering gunsmith? As no rifle has ever been positively attributed to Meylin, how can his rifles possibly be called “artistic” ?

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This bill should be rescinded and rewritten by qualified historians to reflect the correct history of Pennsylvania’s long rifle. If it is not rewritten, future generations will be sorely misled and, as a result, the bill holds no meaningful purpose.

Patrick Hornberger

Past Berks County Resident

Historian/author

Trappe, Md.

(The writer is a member of the Pennsylvania Antique Gun Collectors Association, the Kentucky Rifle Association and the Arms and Armor Club.)