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Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Council's Gun Control Legislation To Be Held
Councilman Darrell Clarke

A package of gun control bills submitted by City Councilman Darrell Clarke will apparently not come up for a vote tomorrow during Council's weekly session.  Clarke last week said that the city Law Department was reviewing the proposed legislation, which was approved by Council's Committee on Public Safety.  The legislation, which could have come up for a final vote by Council tomorrow, is being amended today and then held.

The legislation would limit handgun purchases to one a month, require owners to report lost or stolen guns to police, allow police to confiscate guns from people considered a risk to themselves or others, require a license from police to bring a gun into the city, ban semiautomatic weapons with clips that hold more than 10 rounds and establish a registry for ammunition sales.

Council passed the same legislation last year but it was not enforced because it called for matching state legislation.  Clarke sued the state after that legislation never happened.  The state is now seeking to have that lawsuit dismissed, arguing that only the General Assembly has the power to regulate guns in Pennsylvania. A 1996 ruling by the state Supreme Court upheld that argument.

The state House yesterday voted down 128-75 legislation that would have required handgun owners across the state to report lost or stolen guns to law enforcement agencies within 72 hours of learning that the weapon was missing. 

Ultimately, Clarke's legislation is designed to provoke a Constitutional fight with the state that could lead to a re-hearing of the Supreme Court's 1996 decision on gun regulation.

Posted by Chris Brennan @ 4:42 PM  Permalink | 1 comment
Comments   
Posted 09:22 PM, 04/02/2008
Adam Lang
It's not even a Constitutional showdown. The Uniform Firearms Act, created by Fumo, specifically states that no municipality or county has the authority to regulate firearms. It doesn't even get to the Constitution. There is no grey area.
1 comments
About Chris Brennan and Catherine Lucey
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.

Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002. Since then she has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. For the past two years, she covered the 2007 mayoral election. Now that the battle is over, she has moved down to the City Hall bureau where she will report on the Nutter administration.

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Catherine Lucey
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