Category: Pennsylvania

What worries me is, rumors are there might not be the votes to stop this. So please contact the members of the committee.

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that the Supreme Court has upheld the local Philadelphia gun ordinances. This is false. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Monday denied the appeal of the National Rifle Association, who was dismissed based on standing, and not on the merits. This is still very much an undecided issue. You can read the opinion here. All this really means is that the Supreme Court is letting stand the lower court ruling on the standing issue. This most certainly did not uphold any of Philadelphia’s ordinances on Lost and Stolen.

When it comes to gun issues, it’s always best to ignore the Philly papers. They don’t know what they are talking about most of the time.

I don’t when local officials are going to get it through their thick skulls, but they cannot regulate guns. That’s clearly establish law at this point. But it’s not stopping Lackawanna County:

Commissioners approved rules and regulations prohibiting smoking, skateboarding and other activities in county parks, including new restrictions on guns. The rule says, “No unlicensed firearms or weapons are allowed in a park.” Discharging a firearm is also prohibited.

Discharge is probably something they can regulate under the UFA, but this essentially prohibits open carry, which is legal in PA without a license.

Meanwhile, Sheriff John Szymanski said he also plans to challenge the new rule – arguing the county should make it more strict.

“We don’t allow firearms in the park,” said Mr. Szymanski, whose department oversees law enforcement of county parks. “It’s a public facility, and if you walk around with a gun, you’re going to intimidate a lot of people. Our position is we’re not allowing it and we’re going to ask for clarification on that point.”

The wording of park rules, unchanged or made more strict, could set off a constitutional debate on gun rights in Lackawanna County, experts say. County solicitor John O’Brien said they are reviewing the language and looking to see how it can be updated.

What bothers me is this isn’t a debate. You can’t do it. Period. We had this debate a decade ago, it went to the Supreme Court, and we won. Either they are electing incompetent solicitors in all these towns, or they just don’t give a crap what the law is.

I have my issues with Pat Meehan, and the Meehan family (who run the Philly GOP), but we have to make sure Brian Lentz goes down to stinging defeat. Statements like this are part of the reason:

“So they essentially get a ‘get-out-of-jail free’ card when they’re stopped carrying a loaded firearm.  They produce a Florida permit and our local law enforcement must honor that which is unacceptable given the arrest record and the background of many of these individuals.”

See, you get out of jail free, because you flash a legal license. Everyone knows, of course, the default for carrying a gun should be to go to jail.

He says the Sunshine State is less strict when it comes to handing out permits, looking only at convictions and not a person’s character.

The Sunshine State is not less strict. They require training, fingerprinting, and a 120 dollar application fee. So far they can point to one bozo out of thousands in the Commonwealth who have Florida licenses. Most Florida license holders, including myself, also have PA LTCs, and only retain Florida’s CWL for expanded recognition from other states.

Philadelphia sure does look at a person’s character though. Unpaid parking tickets? Well, no, you can’t have a permit. What kind of person owes the City of Philadelphia money? Had a gun stolen once? Well, we can’t have you exercising your right to bear arms. You’re not a suitable person.

The UFA, namely the Amendments of Act 17, were supposed to make Philadelphia shall-issue like the rest of the state. But they haven’t. Philadelphia routinely revokes permits for trivial and unlawful reasons. They represent only a smal fraction of statewide permit holders, yet represent a hugely disproportionate numer of revocations. Why do some people seek recourse in a Florida license? Because it’s cheaper than hiring a lawyer to fight a denial or revocation.

Lentz and all his gun hating buddies in the General Assembly need to understand this very simple fact: We’re going to flip the House back this fall, and if you shove this down our throats, we’re going to shove a whole lot of things down your throats you aren’t going to like, which include eliminating or severely limiting the discretion local jurisdictions may exercise in issuing Licenses to Carry Firearms. You want us to be responsible with guns, we’re going to demand officials be responsible with the law. If they can’t be, we’re going to change it. Think carefully before going down this path.

If you go around Pennsylvania, especially to county and municipal parks, you’ll find plenty of signs banning guns. Feel free to ignore them because they carry no weight of law. But now some towns are getting those laws off the books.

Representative Thomas was the sponsor of three of the bills, the gun control bills, that were defeated in committee this week in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He is not too pleased with the result, which naturally pleases me:

“There is no reason why anyone should bring a weapon with a 30-round clip into a residential neighborhood,” Thomas said.

Thomas said that, after much debate, his bills were not approved by a committee majority.

[…]

Thomas said he particularly thinks he will garner support for H.B. 1044 considering that the courts have already upheld the constitutionality of 37 local gun ordinances.

“Right now, municipalities’ hands are tied by the PA Uniform Firearms Law. I think it’s just a matter of time until my bill becomes law,” Thomas said.

Funny, I have several dozen 30 round “clips” in a residential neighborhood and they haven’t managed to jump out of the safe and kill anyone yet. I have to admire his optimism in the face of a stunning defeat — the votes in all three cases were very lopsided — but we will continue to oppose his agenda. I’m sorry, but you’re not going to make me a criminal because I happen to go through the wrong town on the way to a shooting match. Especially not when the state police commissioner, a guy who is thoroughly anti-gun, and a crony of Ed Rendell, is the one making that call.