The Lehigh County District Attorney is resisting attempts by Allentown to pass local gun ordinances similar to Phialdelphia’s. If people want to know why we defend preemption tooth and nail, this is why. Before long you have a patchwork of laws that no one can reasonably comply with:
Any officer who makes an arrest under the ordinance could face obstruction of justice charges, Martin said in an interview Monday.
”The issue is clear,” Martin said. ”When it comes to gun-control legislation, any city ordinance is preempted by state law and that makes any Allentown law unenforceable.”
James Martin deserves the support of gun owners for being willing to stand by the law and our state’s constitution.
It does put law enforcement officials in a tough spot though. Their boss says to enforce the law, the DA threatens to charge cops who enforce it. It makes sense, but I feel bad for the cop who’s stuck in the middle of it.
I’ve looked for DA Martin’s contact information to send him a message of support. However, all that I can find is his office’s phone number and address. I guess I’ll be making a call instead of sending an e-mail. The contact information (address/phone number) can be found here for anyone else who’s interested.
“Their boss says to enforce the law, the DA threatens to charge cops who enforce it. ”
If they know it’s a violation of state law, I would think it would be a pretty clear choice. In fact, if they get penalized by their boss for not enforcing an illegal law, I would imagine that they have clear grounds for a lawsuit against the department at that point.