Felcher Adam Schiff
2019-04-10 05:34:46 UTC
PITTSBURGH Gun rights groups sued Tuesday to block Pittsburgh
from enforcing firearms legislation passed after a mass shooting
at a synagogue, accusing city officials of blatantly defying the
state's prohibition on municipal gun regulation.
Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto signed the bills into law in a
ceremony at the City-County Building, declaring the community
had come together "to say enough is enough." City officials said
they had to act because the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania
Legislature which is planning to hold a memorial service for
the victims this week will not.
"We are going to take some action, we are going to do something
positive and, yes, it is going to be everlasting," said Peduto,
surrounded by gun-control advocates and members of three
congregations that were targeted in the shooting rampage at Tree
of Life Synagogue. "Change only happens when you challenge the
status quo."
Minutes later, a coalition of gun rights groups sued to get the
newly minted laws overturned, calling them "patently
unenforceable, unconstitutional, illegal." Shortly after that, a
second lawsuit, this one backed by the National Rifle
Association, declared that "Pittsburgh has violated the rights
of its citizens."
"Worse yet, Pittsburgh has committed this violation without any
realistic prospect of diminishing the ... incidence of horrific
mass shootings," said the suit, filed by four city residents.
"All it will do is leave law-abiding citizens more vulnerable to
attack from better-armed and more ruthless assailants."
The new legislation restricts military-style assault weapons
like the AR-15 rifle authorities say was used in the Oct. 27
massacre that killed 11 and wounded seven. It also bans most
uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines
and allows the temporary seizure of guns from people who are
determined to be a danger to themselves or others. The first two
laws are due to take effect in 60 days, the imminent-danger law
in 180 days.
Whether the city will be able to enforce them is an open
question. State law has long prohibited municipalities from
regulating the ownership or possession of guns or ammunition,
and courts have thrown out other local firearms measures,
including a 1990s-era assault weapons ban in Pittsburgh.
But city leaders said they were eager to take on the fight,
given the Legislature's traditional reluctance to pass gun
legislation.
"This fantasy that somehow the state is going to step up and
help us is simply not going to happen," said Council President
Bruce Kraus.
The bill signing took place as state lawmakers prepared to come
together for a memorial service for the Tree of Life victims.
The unusual joint session at the Capitol in Harrisburg on
Wednesday will bring together the House and Senate for prayers
and speeches about the attack. Peduto's spokesman said the
timing was coincidental.
The Pittsburgh bills proposed not long after the deadliest
attack on Jews in U.S. history were weakened ahead of City
Council passage in an effort to make them more likely to survive
a court challenge. While one of the bills originally included an
outright ban on assault weapons, the revised measure bars the
"use" of assault weapons in public places.
A full ban on possession would take effect only if state
lawmakers or the state Supreme Court give municipalities the
right to regulate guns, which is seen as unlikely in a state
where a majority of legislators are fiercely protective of gun
rights.
The city will be represented in court by lawyers with Everytown
for Gun Safety, a group backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
In another legal filing Tuesday, the Allegheny County
Sportsmen's League asked a judge to hold the city, Peduto and
six council members who voted for the gun-control legislation in
contempt of court, contending they violated a 1995 legal
settlement in which city officials dropped the earlier effort to
ban assault weapons and agreed to "abide by and adhere to
Pennsylvania law."
"It is unfortunate that ... taxpayers will be burdened by the
city's elected officials believing it is acceptable and even
gloating that they are violating the Pennsylvania Constitution
and Crimes Code," Joshua Prince, a lawyer seeking to overturn
the laws, wrote in a statement.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/suit-filed-over-gun-controls-inspired-
by-synagogue-shooting
from enforcing firearms legislation passed after a mass shooting
at a synagogue, accusing city officials of blatantly defying the
state's prohibition on municipal gun regulation.
Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto signed the bills into law in a
ceremony at the City-County Building, declaring the community
had come together "to say enough is enough." City officials said
they had to act because the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania
Legislature which is planning to hold a memorial service for
the victims this week will not.
"We are going to take some action, we are going to do something
positive and, yes, it is going to be everlasting," said Peduto,
surrounded by gun-control advocates and members of three
congregations that were targeted in the shooting rampage at Tree
of Life Synagogue. "Change only happens when you challenge the
status quo."
Minutes later, a coalition of gun rights groups sued to get the
newly minted laws overturned, calling them "patently
unenforceable, unconstitutional, illegal." Shortly after that, a
second lawsuit, this one backed by the National Rifle
Association, declared that "Pittsburgh has violated the rights
of its citizens."
"Worse yet, Pittsburgh has committed this violation without any
realistic prospect of diminishing the ... incidence of horrific
mass shootings," said the suit, filed by four city residents.
"All it will do is leave law-abiding citizens more vulnerable to
attack from better-armed and more ruthless assailants."
The new legislation restricts military-style assault weapons
like the AR-15 rifle authorities say was used in the Oct. 27
massacre that killed 11 and wounded seven. It also bans most
uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines
and allows the temporary seizure of guns from people who are
determined to be a danger to themselves or others. The first two
laws are due to take effect in 60 days, the imminent-danger law
in 180 days.
Whether the city will be able to enforce them is an open
question. State law has long prohibited municipalities from
regulating the ownership or possession of guns or ammunition,
and courts have thrown out other local firearms measures,
including a 1990s-era assault weapons ban in Pittsburgh.
But city leaders said they were eager to take on the fight,
given the Legislature's traditional reluctance to pass gun
legislation.
"This fantasy that somehow the state is going to step up and
help us is simply not going to happen," said Council President
Bruce Kraus.
The bill signing took place as state lawmakers prepared to come
together for a memorial service for the Tree of Life victims.
The unusual joint session at the Capitol in Harrisburg on
Wednesday will bring together the House and Senate for prayers
and speeches about the attack. Peduto's spokesman said the
timing was coincidental.
The Pittsburgh bills proposed not long after the deadliest
attack on Jews in U.S. history were weakened ahead of City
Council passage in an effort to make them more likely to survive
a court challenge. While one of the bills originally included an
outright ban on assault weapons, the revised measure bars the
"use" of assault weapons in public places.
A full ban on possession would take effect only if state
lawmakers or the state Supreme Court give municipalities the
right to regulate guns, which is seen as unlikely in a state
where a majority of legislators are fiercely protective of gun
rights.
The city will be represented in court by lawyers with Everytown
for Gun Safety, a group backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
In another legal filing Tuesday, the Allegheny County
Sportsmen's League asked a judge to hold the city, Peduto and
six council members who voted for the gun-control legislation in
contempt of court, contending they violated a 1995 legal
settlement in which city officials dropped the earlier effort to
ban assault weapons and agreed to "abide by and adhere to
Pennsylvania law."
"It is unfortunate that ... taxpayers will be burdened by the
city's elected officials believing it is acceptable and even
gloating that they are violating the Pennsylvania Constitution
and Crimes Code," Joshua Prince, a lawyer seeking to overturn
the laws, wrote in a statement.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/suit-filed-over-gun-controls-inspired-
by-synagogue-shooting