A new study will start next month to determine whether shotguns and muzzle loaders used by hunters pose less of a risk to the public than rifles.

The 99 thousand dollar study should be finished by the middle of next year.

The state game commission has studied the issue and concluded that shotguns are not necessarily safer than rifles.

Lawmakers began looking at expanding bans on rifles after two non-hunters in Western Pennsylvania were shot and killed in 1996.