The Associated Press reported last week that a judge had temporarily blocked Philadelphia from enforcing five gun-control ordinances pending a challenge from the National Rifle Association.
The NRA argued that state law prevents Pennsylvania municipalities from regulating guns, a view that the city’s district attorney shares.
“The city has no basis to pass any of these gun-control ordinances and they know it,” lawyer C. Scott Shields argued on the NRA’s behalf.
City lawyers contend that Philadelphia can pass gun-control ordinances if the laws are outside the scope of state measures. As an example, lawyer Mark Zecca told the judge that one Pennsylvania county had banned guns at its courthouse.
Among other things, the five city ordinances passed April 10 ban the sale of assault weapons; require owners to report a lost or stolen gun within 24 hours; and limit firearms purchases to one a month.
