HARRISBURG – Republican Party of Pennsylvania Spokesman Mike Barley released the following statement regarding the recent CeaseFirePA advertisement:

“The event depicted in the recent CeaseFire PA ad is tragic and our heartfelt wishes, thoughts and prayers go out to the Hacke family.

The CeaseFirePA ad implies that this story would not have happened if the Florida reciprocity agreement were not in effect, when in actuality there was no agreement with Florida at the time. Furthermore, the man charged with this awful crime, Vaughn Mathis, was scheduled to go on trial for raping and pistol-whipping a 53-year-old woman and had a record of other charges including unlicensed carry.  That conviction would have prevented him from carrying a firearm legally.

Here are the facts surrounding the Hacke case:

• On January 11, 1997, 22-year-old Vaughn Mathis discharged a firearm in Homestead, an Allegheny County neighborhood.  A bullet struck 14-month-old Ryan Hacke as he sat in his parents’ car as it left a gas station.  Hacke died days later.

• Mathis testified that he fired his gun into the air to scare another man away.  The jury apparently believed that Mathis accidentally discharged the gun toward the gas station while raising it to fire warning shots.

• In September of 1997, Mathis was convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter, three counts of reckless endangerment and carrying a firearm without a license.  The judge said, “By the verdict of the jury, you are not a murderer, but the jury found you to be a reckless killer.”

• Mathis was sentenced the following month.  Mathis’ sentence on all counts carried a maximum 18 years if run consecutively; he is currently incarcerated at Somerset, though it is unclear as to whether his present incarceration is solely due to the shooting incident or if it’s also related to other offenses.

• At the time of Mathis’ sentencing, he was scheduled to go on trial for pistol-whipping and raping a 53-year-old woman.  He also went to trial for drug possession while in custody. Click here to read the court summary.

• Mathis’ conviction for unlicensed carry in September of 1997 indicates that he had no carry license.

• At the time of the shooting incident, Mathis was free on $5,000 bail.  He had also been convicted of unlicensed carry in 1994.

• The reciprocity agreement with PA and Florida was brokered on September 21, 2001, close to five years after the incident.

Contact: Mike Barley
Press Release