Your comments: Should Pennsylvania cities be allowed to enforce their own gun laws? (2024)

Allentown Gun Show

A variety of rifles on display at the Allentown Gun Show.

(Express-Times Photo | MATT SMITH)

Did dozens of Pennsylvania municipalities go too far in enacting laws requiring residents to report the loss or theft of firearms? A majority of state legislators and Gov. Tom Corbett think so.

TheLegislature passed a bill last week to give standing to citizens and organizations to sue municipalities with gun laws that supersede state law. It also would allow plaintiffs such as the National Rifle Association to recoup legal costs if they win in court.

About 30 municipalities have adopted laws in an attempt to to crack down on gun violence. Allentown passed an ordinance in 2008 that has not been enforced, on the advice of District Attorney James Martin.Easton City Council considered a similar ordinance, but ended up calling on the Legislature to mandate the reporting of lost and stolen handguns statewide.

This bill isn't the last word. Four state legislators and the mayors of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lancaster sued the state. State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, said the provision aimed at cities was illegally tucked into a bill designed to increase penalties for the theft of copper piping, and called it "a gift to the NRA."

State Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh-Northampton, who voted for the bill, believes gun laws must be enacted by the legislature, not town by town.

Here's a sampling of the online response to stafferSarah Wojcik's Nov. 10 story in the issue.

set the tone:

"The maintenance of the right to bear arms is a most essential one to every free people and should not be whittled down by technical constructions." - The Supreme Court of the USA in State vs. Kerner

posed this question:

"Communities such as Allentown that passed laws requiring owners of lost or stolen firearms to report them to authorities can now be sued under the new law..." "We're just trying to do what we can do to keep these guns out of the hands of felons."
So help me out here. How does passing this kind of law help keep guns out of the hands of felons?

responded:

It allows the police to arrest the individual that used the gun in a crime. What happens is when confronted they say "oh someone stole that gun a few months ago or I lost that gun several weeks ago." If you car is stolen you report it -- one for insurance but the other reason is that if it is involved in a hit and run or used in a bank robbery you would not be implicated.

said:

What a wonderful day. Communities that passed gun laws that had no authority to pass them, finally can be held accountable for their actions. Before this, towns could pass laws with no authority to do so, and no one stopped them. The ONLY authority to regulate guns lies with the state legislature and our federal Congress. We cannot allow hundreds of different municipalities in PA to each have their own gun laws.

offered this analogy:

It's just common sense - if everyone carries a gun, everyone will be safer. A lost or stolen gun just permits an additional person to protect themselves from bad people.
It's like cell phones - everyone using one while driving is responsible, and it makes everything safer.

outlined a problem for gun owners:

Local ordinances over gun control received a well desrved demise ...
Imagine driving from Bethlehem to Harrisburg with a loaded gun in the car, when the local laws (if passed) change each time you cross a municipal boundary? You could be subjected to felonies and misdemeanors, over and over, simply because one town allows guns to be carried while driving and others do not. DO you really think that people read the zoning laws of all municipalities every time they take a road trip?

agreed:

I'm a conceal/carry permit holder and carry a concealed weapon almost daily due to the line of work I'm in. The real problem is that I need to travel around the valley and do not need to be burdened by having to constantly figure out which township, municipality or city does or does not allow me to carry a firearm.

kenboy asked:
Mr. Mayor, correct me if I am wrong but didn't you sign on to wacky Mayor Bloomberg's mayors against guns campaign? Playing both sides of the coin, no?

replied:

I absolutely did. Are you for illegal guns? Who wouldn't be against illegal guns?

reminisced:

I miss the good old days when "Never leave home without it" meant your credit card and not your handgun.