Pittsburgh’s efforts to regulate firearms likely die after state Supreme Court ruling

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an attempt by Philadelphia officials to overturn state laws barring the city from enacting its own gun laws. Officials say that could hurt Pittsburgh’s own attempts to regulate gun violence and have major ramifications for gun laws across the state.

The city of Philadelphia, gun violence prevention advocacy group CeaseFirePA and people affected by gun violence argued that the city’s gun violence epidemic stems from decades-old precedents that gave the legislature sole authority to regulate gun ownership. They asked the court to overturn those rules and allow local governments to pass their own legislation on the matter.

Unanimously opinion released Wednesday, Judge Kevin Brobson acknowledged that “gun violence takes lives and destroys families in every part of this Commonwealth,” but ruled that the city’s argument was “wholly insufficient” to prove that banning local gun laws was the cause of gun violence weapons. .

Cities, including Pittsburgh, have tried to create their own laws aimed at reducing gun violence. In 2019, in response to a gunman who killed 11 worshipers at a Squirrel Hill synagogue, Pittsburgh passed a suite of gun control bills. The bills banned the use of assault rifles, high-capacity magazines and other accessories such as buffing stocks within city limits. Another established procedures for removing guns from those deemed by a judge to be an “extreme risk” to themselves or others.

The laws faced legal challenges from gun rights advocates and were never enforced. The Commonwealth Court later struck down the rules.

At the time, Pittsburgh officials vowed to appeal the decision. And City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, who helped craft the city’s ordinances, said officials saw the Philadelphia case as an opportunity to establish local governments’ ability to pass laws when the state refused to act.

Strassburger called Wednesday’s decision “incredibly disappointing.”

“It seems like we’ve been trying for years to pass the best legislation,” she said.

The decision, she said, effectively killed any future attempts to regulate guns at the city level.

“I don’t blame our judges, but I blame our state legislature as a whole — if they don’t pass gun sense legislation — for not allowing cities to protect our own residents and pass our own legislation that we know. we need,” Strassburger said.

“We are deeply disappointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to handcuff local governments, preventing them from adopting proven policies that will save the lives of their residents,” CeaseFirePA said in a statement.

“It is clear that the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s refusal to act and the hand-tying of local officials has exacerbated this public health crisis. It is time for the General Assembly to change course before more lives are lost.”

Gun rights advocates applauded the court’s decision.

Asserting the legislature’s right to regulate firearms will ensure that “we don’t have this patchwork of laws in the Commonwealth that will trap law-abiding citizens,” said Joshua Prince, chief counsel of the Firearms Industry Advisory Group.

Prince represented groups that sued to overturn Pittsburgh’s measures.

He argued that this week’s ruling could set the stage for a broader ruling that would bar municipalities from regulating anything gun-related, such as a local ordinance that prohibits the discharge of a gun.

Local officials say they will continue to push for changes to gun laws — though the methods they use are likely to change.

“We need to collectively think about the best ways to help protect our residents,” said Allegheny County Comptroller Corey O’Connor, also a former City Council member who worked on the legislation.

“There’s a certain level of winning the hearts and minds of not only the public, but the legislators,” Strassburger said.

They will look at existing anti-violence strategies, such as after-school programs and death elimination, to reduce gun deaths. She also plans to lobby the state legislature, though it could be an uphill battle.

“I’m not optimistic in the short term,” Strassburger admitted. “But it’s an issue that I know will continue to affect so many lives that, in the long run, we can continue to tear ourselves apart and make progress, especially when we know that the majority of the public is on our side.”