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June 20, 2009
PA Court: Philly Gun Laws Invalid
PA court: Philly gun laws invalid
Two key provisions of Philadelphia's most recent attempt to impose local gun controls - banning "straw purchase" of handguns and banning assault weapons - were invalidated today by a state appeals court.
Following a series of rulings that doomed previous Philadelphia gun control laws, the Commonwealth Court held that the state Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that only the state legislature - not municipalities - has the authority to enact gun laws.
But the 6-1 majority of the Commonwealth Court affirmed part of the 2008 decision of then-Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan and allowed three other provisions to remain in effect.
Greenspan, now on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, had ruled in those three provisions that the National Rifle Association and other challengers of the Philadelphia laws were not affected seriously enough to have legal standing to sue.
Those provisions - requiring reporting of lost or stolen handguns, allowing temporary seizure of guns by police and barring gun ownership by people subject to "protections from abuse" orders - remain in effect in Philadelphia.
Richard Feder, chief of appeals in the city Law Department, said his office is "seriously considering" appealing the two invalidated provisions to the state Supreme Court.
Feder said the reporting provision is now in effect and the other two have not yet been implemented because they are legally complex and require the city to draft and adopt regulations.
In invalidating the assault weapon and straw purchase provisions, Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter, the president judge of Commonwealth Court called the precedent set by the Supreme Court in 1996 "crystal clear."
Judge Doris Smith-Ribner wrote separately, concurring and dissenting from the majority opinion.
Smith-Ribner wrote that she did not believe the Supreme Court had totally barred local gun control and said a case could be made for provisions of the Philadelphia ordinance regulating assault weapons and the "straw purchase" of guns for other people not legally permitted to own firearms.
The five city ordinances, enacted in April 2008, were immediately challenged in court by the National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Pennsylvania Association of Firearms Retailers, two local firearms retailers and four individuals.
"It's signficant," said Joseph Grace, executive director of the gun-control group CeaseFire PA, of the Commonwealth Court's decision.
Grace noted that the city's lost-or-stolen reporting ordinance is now the only one in Pennsylvania that has passed court muster - despite a failure to enact a similar law last year in the legislature.
"This decision simply puts the ball back where it should be - in the General Assembly," Grace said. "Cities and mayors have been taking action in the absence of any action from the General Assembly."
Since Philadelphia passed its gun control package in April 2008, Grace said, six Pennsylvania cities and one borough have enaced ordinances requiring the reporting of lost or stolen handguns: Allentown, Reading, Pottsville, Pittsburgh, Lancaster and Harrisburg and Wilkinsburg Borough in Allegheny County.
The NRA recently challenged the Pittsburgh ordinance in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, Grace said.
Wild Thing's comment......
From what I have read Ribner-Smith is an activist judge who rules by what she believes, not what the law says.
Good for the NRA for standing up for our natural right to self defense.
.
....Thank you JohnE PFC U.S. Army for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at June 20, 2009 06:46 AM
Comments
Pennsylvania Constitution Article I, Section 21
"The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."
Where I live in the 'Wilds of Pennsylvania' aka, Alabama, we have yet to have such restrictive gun laws. In fact, in school districts, there are no 'Gun Free Zones.' In fact, the neighbor across the street is constantly out in his backyard shooting all the time. No problem.
The stupid New Laws in the cities will certainly cause problems for the rest of the state, since they have to enforce the Constitution, as stated above. Hunting isn't even mentioned, Self-defense and defense of the State is. So there seems to be a conflict between Local governments and the authority of the State.
This past weekend I spent one night in Philadelphia, Their new law had little effect a Cop was shot the night we stayed there. Also, Philadelphia is known as the Murder Capital of the Country...gee can't imagine why and from what I saw in Philadelphia, the Redistribution of Wealth is going really well...If you were asleep while entering the city, and woke up suddenly, you'd swear you had been hijacked to South Africa.
Liberals aren't stupid, they know as well as we do Guns are NOT the problem, but they also know that if they confiscate them we can offer less resistance when it comes to taking away the rest of our Rights. That I believe is there sole reasoning, not safty IT IS ALL ABOUT CONTROLLING THE PEOPLE.
Posted by: Mark at June 20, 2009 08:56 AM
Philadelphia has a people problem, not a gun problem. Mark is right about liberals wanting to control people, but the liberals want to control the types of people who won't vote for them, not the dependent types.
Posted by: TomR at June 20, 2009 01:14 PM
Mark, thank you for sharing about Philly.
I agree so much, it really is all about
control.My hope will always be the many
dems that love their guns and will fight
the control freaks off about this.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 21, 2009 01:11 AM
Tom, that is true, they really only are
concerned with the free thinkers, the
people that have a mind of their own.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 21, 2009 01:13 AM
