Abraham Praises Nutter & Council On Guns, Trashes Inquirer

District Attorney Lynne Abraham, the featured speaker at today's Philadelphia Coalition for Victim Advocacy, again said she will "absolutely not" arrest Mayor Nutter and City Council members for approving local gun control laws last week.  The National Rifle Association has called for Nutter and Council to be charged with official oppression, a second-degree misdemeanor, insisting that the city laws conflict with the state's power to regulate firearms.

"I mean, I thought it that was an absurd statement, and obviously, the mayor and Council have every right to try to test the laws and to change them," Abraham told reporters, including PhillyClout colleague Julie Shaw. "And I support their efforts. My only dilemma is that the Supreme Court tells me what I can't do. And they've told me I can't enforce this law.  And unfortunately, I can't do it.  There's nobody who's been more of an advocate for gun control in Philadelphia than I have."

Abraham was speaking of a 1996 state Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Philadelphia law banning certain types of semiautomatic rifles.  Abraham and then-Gov. Tom Ridge were the petitioners who asked the court to overturn city law back then.

She continued yesterday to call the laws "unconstitutional and illegal" while applauding Nutter and Council for passing them. And she took issue with a "dead wrong" and "unfair" Inquirer editorial today on her stance, calling the newspaper "pinheaded."

"The newspaper should be the guardian of the public's rights," she said. "And they should thank me for not violating the law to advance an agenda which the courts have to decide on."