Nutter defies '96 ruling by signing new gun laws

Harkening back to the founding of America, Mayor Nutter and City Council yesterday challenged the state General Assembly on gun control.

Nutter swiftly signed into law five bills passed unanimously by Council, and compared them to the Declaration of Independence.

The state Supreme Court in a 1996 ruling declared that only the General Assembly has the power to regulate guns, tossing out the city's last effort at gun control.

"We have petitioned our government, but our pleas have been ignored," Nutter said. "We're going to make us independent of the violence that has been taking place in this city for far too long."

Nutter cited "bloody statistics": 74 homicides in the city so far this year, 56 committed with handguns and 1,734 people injured by guns last year.

The laws limit purchases of handguns to one a month unless the Police Department provides written authorization, make it a crime to not report a lost or stolen gun within 48 hours, allow police to confiscate guns from people considered a danger to themselves or others and ban semiautomatic weapons with clips that hold more than 10 rounds.

The gun-purchasing law will take six months to implement but the four others will be enforced immediately, Nutter said.

Councilman Darrell Clarke, who sued the state last year seeking the power to enforce local gun laws, said he expects to be back in court soon as a defendant in a lawsuit challenging the new city laws.

"We're beyond serious," Clarke said. "This is going to send a message that will probably reach national levels."

C. Scott Shields, a local attorney for the National Rifle Association, said the group would seek an injunction to stop the laws.

"It's sad they would do this because these are all patently unconstitutional. It's shocking," Shields said. "What if the city passed an ordinance saying you don't have the right to free speech within the city's limits?"

Clarke is hoping to provoke a re-hearing of the 1996 ruling by passing local gun laws and challenging the General Assembly.

David Kairys, a Temple University law professor and gun-control advocate, said that ruling left the city in a difficult position and that Nutter had acted responsibly.

"He comes into office and there's an intolerable level of gun violence," Kairys said. "He's responding to the violence."

Nutter signed the bills in front of three tables laden with handguns and rifles confiscated by police during crimes. He was joined by members of City Council, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and community activists.

Kim Stolfer, vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Sportsmen Association's legislative committee, called Nutter's action a crime and a political charade.

"I would like to see the mayor taken out in handcuffs for committing the crimes that they did," Stolfer said, adding that the city will rack up huge legal bills in a losing battle. "Who is going to pay for the lawsuit? Who is going to pay when they're wrong?"

Nutter brushed all that off.

"The wonderful thing about this country is that people can say whatever they want wherever they want," Nutter said. "That doesn't mean they're right or that it makes sense." *