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An carry win over Erie

davidmcbeth

davidmcbeth

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A big win Tuesday for the Erie man, who took the city of Erie to court for a city ordinance, which banned the right to carry guns in city parks.

The Commonwealth Court on Tuesday, ruled the city's ordinance is "unlawful and unenforceable." Download the ruling.
 
jahwarrior

jahwarrior

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This might be a win for the plaintiffs, but is not a real win for PA gun owners overall.
 
Fallschirjmäger

Fallschirjmäger

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I'm also confused why it's not a "real" win.

Reading the Commonwealth Ruling it seems to be a quite easy win.
City Ordinance
Section 955.06(b) of Erie City Ordinances says "No person in a park shall hunt, trap, or pursue wildlife at any time. No person shall use, carry or possess firearms of any descriptions ... (snipped)

State Law
Section 6120(a) of the Uniform Firearms Act, 18 Pa. C.S. Section 6120(a) states, "No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.

The city code is preempted by State law, easy peasy lemon squeezy.
 
Last edited:
Curmudgeon

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Because of footnote 9 on page 9.

It looks like the dicta suggests that, although municipalities may not criminalize carry, they
can still prohibit it as a "rule", and ask/demand that you leave if found. A summary violation
either way.

The concern is that we will now see, popping up all over the place, the signs we have been
successful in getting removed. Someone may have to be cited and we have to take this to
court all over again.

If pre-emption/6120 should still prevail then why add the footnote? We already have several
townships claiming 6120 isn't as broad or as strong as we want to think it is, and both sides have
been waiting for this decision.

I can see both sides of the argument, and I was hoping for a cleaner and more strongly worded win.
One without footnote 9.
 
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