The Passed Ordinances

Thanks again to reader ErnieD for doing the hard work finding the PDFs, but here are the passed ordinances (Sorry, all the links are now dead as of 5/2014):

1. 080018-A Prohibited Possession, Sale, Transfer of Firearms by Persons Subject to Protection from Abuse Orders

http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/5080.pdf

2. 080032-A Reporting Lost or Stolen

http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/5081.pdf

3. 080035-A One Gun A Month

http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/5083.pdf

4. 080017 Removal of Firearms From Persons Posing Risk

http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/4733.pdf

5. 080033 Assault Weapons Ban

http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/4748.pdf

Several of these mirror existing federal and state laws.  Here’s my guess as to what they are planning, based on the laws they didn’t pass, and based on the ones that did.  Ortiz v. Commonwealth pretty clearly established that the city’s Home Rule Charter doesn’t allow it to override Pennsylvania Statute nor the Pennsylvania Constitution, and in this particular case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld preemption.   But let’s look at the preemption law:

General rule. No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammuni­tion components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this commonwealth.

I’m guessing they are planning to argue that the laws which overlap are criminalizing firearms possession for purposes which are prohibited by “the laws of this commonwealth” and so they can regulate.  I’m also guessing they will argue the lost and stolen require doesn’t regulate any of the above, and that the one gun per month scheme also doesn’t regulate any of the above.  I think they fully expect to lose on the assault weapons deal, which was just thrown in there for media effect.

Yes, all these arguments are bogus, and I’m confident they’ll fail, but pretty clearly, I think they will have to argue something other than home rule.