Local Commentary

OPPONENTS OF common-sense laws to prevent gun violence – most notably the National Rifle Association – claim the court’s recent ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago gives them the right to carry guns anywhere, anyplace, all the time. But that isn’t what the Supreme Court actually said in its decision.

The court sent the Chicago handgun ban back to the lower courts and extended the Second Amendment to apply to state and local gun laws – not unexpected developments.

However, the court also said reasonable regulations of firearms are permitted under our Constitution. They always have been, and they always will be.

So what does the court’s ruling mean for Pennsylvania?

CeaseFirePA believes that reasonable regulations on firearms are necessary to help police get illegal guns out of criminal hands and better protect Pennsylvanians. We also believe these common-sense regulations fall squarely under the Supreme Court’s decision and are permissible under the federal and Pennsylvania constitutions.

One reasonable step is a reporting requirement for lost or stolen handguns. In Pennsylvania, 45 cities and towns already have taken local action in support of lost or stolen handgun reporting, either by ordinance or by urging statewide action by the General Assembly.

In two cities – Philadelphia and Pittsburgh – Pennsylvania courts repeatedly have upheld local lost or stolen gun reporting laws, rejecting the gun lobby’s challenges five times. This coalition of municipalities taking action to reduce gun violence is supported by more than 190 mayors, 400 faith leaders and thousands of residents from Allentown to Aliquippa and a host of towns in between.

As support for lost or stolen handgun reporting grows, hundreds of Pennsylvania police chiefs have come out in favor of another reasonable reform to close a loophole in state law that allows Pennsylvania residents to sidestep law enforcement and obtain permits from Florida to carry concealed guns – even if their applications were denied in this state. This loophole lets people with criminal backgrounds get out-of-state permits to carry guns in Pennsylvania – even after state authorities determine they shouldn’t be allowed to do so.

If your handgun is lost or stolen, report it to the police. If Pennsylvania law enforcement determines you shouldn’t have a permit to carry a concealed gun based on something in your background, you shouldn’t be able to get a permit from another state.

We believe these are exactly the kind of reasonable solutions to prevent gun violence the Supreme Court had in mind when Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, held that our Bill of Rights “limits,” but by no means eliminates, municipalities’ “ability to devise solutions to social problems that suit local needs and values.”

The city of Chicago’s response to the Supreme Court ruling is revealing.

The city immediately drafted a new package of reforms – including lost or stolen handgun reporting. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley explained why the city moved so swiftly after the court ruling: “Either we enact new and reasonable handgun laws in Chicago to protect our residents – as the council has done – or we do nothing and risk greater gun violence in our streets and in our homes.”

The risk of doing nothing is unacceptable, and we’re working every day with legislators, mayors, police, faith leaders and citizens to see reasonable laws enacted that balance constitutional rights with the responsibility we all have to do everything we can to reduce gun violence and make Pennsylvania safer for us all.