Gas range is way better for canning. And everything else. It can put out the heat and take it. The smooth top electric ranges aren't made for the kind of heat that a pressure canner takes.

I like American Range, they make a nice residential model, getting ready to put a 60" range in the farm kitchen we are building.
http://www.americanrangeresidential.com/freestanding-ranges-3/

Stay away from the commercial ranges so cheap on Craigslist. I fully intended to use one but they are not insulated for zero clearance to combustibles like a residential range is. 

I do all my own gas piping, get it permitted and inspected by the county, always passes doesn't leak. Whether it is safe for you to do it depends entirely on your skill level and the tools you have. I bought a brand new set of Rigid threading dies off of Amazon to run my black gas pipe as I wanted clean cut threads that won't leak. Don't use old wore out rusty dies as they will pull a thread while cutting and it will leak.

Since you already have gas in the house it can be run with flex which is really easy to do by either yourself or a plumber as long as there is good access.

Most gas piping guys use all tees with a plug for every corner turned instead of 90s. That's so they can tap in later to add another run. Your's may well have been done that way too, look for a tee and connect there if the pipe is big enough to serve the load.

Larger ranges require a 3/4" pipe. Check the specifications for the range you want before running the pipe.

A great idea would be to check with the County building department before doing the work. Get a permit and have it inspected. Most of the inspectors in my experience will be helpful with what the requirements are.