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Indiana County Parks and Trails Commission

Aran

Banned
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Messages
674
Location
Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA
imported post

I was looking for a good bicycle trail in the area, and came across this page on the Parks and Trails commission's website. The "good trail" in the area is one managed by Parks and Trails.

http://www.indianacountyparks.org/faqs/regs.html

  • Firearms are prohibited, except in areas designated for hunting.
I haven't read the UFA completely in the last few weeks, but I'm pretty sure county parks are prohibited from posting against carry, yes?

If I'm not mistaken, how should I go about getting this taken care of?
 

Statkowski

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
1,141
Location
Cherry Tree (Indiana County), Pennsylvania, USA
imported post

You have four choices:

  • Write to the County Commissioners and Parks Department and complain,
  • Attend the next County Commissioners meeting and complain,
  • Do both, or
  • Do nothing.
Back on June 22nd I went with Plan A. Here's what I wrote:

[align=right]Sunday, June 22, 2008[/align]


The Honorable Rodney Ruddock

County Commissioner Chairman

825 Philadelphia Street

Indiana, Pennsylvania 15701



Re: Indiana County Parks & Trails Rules and Regulations Ordinance



Dear Commissioner Ruddock:



As you are aware, the Commonwealth’s Uniform Firearms Act (1995) reads as follows:



18 [/i]Pa.[/i] C.S. [/i]§6120. Limitation on the Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition.[/i]

[/i]

(a) General rule. 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.[/i]



Your undated Indiana County parks ordinance, however, does just that. Perhaps it was not corrected when the Uniform Firearms Act came into being? Perhaps it was overlooked when you last updated the ordinance. In any event, it outlaws the lawful carrying for firearms for self-defense, specifically:



  • Section VI (Recreational Activities), Subsection F (Hunting Trapping and Firearms) states: “Hunt, trap, carry, bring into, and/or discharge any type of gun, pistol, revolver, air gun, bow and arrow, sling shot or any other weapon in any park except in those specific areas designated for such purposes, nor shall any person shoot into any park from beyond any park boundaries.”[/i]


  • Subsection H (Contraband) further states, in part: “…Any weapon or object carried or used by any person is violation of these rules shall be subject to seizure by the appropriate authority or its agents and disposed of according to law.”[/i]
[/i]

What does this mean? Well, the parts of the county ordinance prohibiting the carrying of firearms are unenforceable, are null and void since they’ve exceeded the authority of the county commission, and are in violation of state law. County government may indeed regulate the discharge of firearms, but not the carrying of same. Should a deputy sheriff, park police or other police officer “enforce” such ordinance, wrongful arrest and abuse of office charges could be laid on the officer, and civil rights violations be filed against the police officer, the police department and Indiana County – not an inexpensive proposition for any defendant.



As stated, I am assuming this is just an oversight on your part and will be readily rectified. According to State Police figures, Indiana County has approximately 5,600 residents licensed to carry firearms concealed (and “open carry” requires no license at all). How many residents already carry in county parks? I do know, should I visit a county park, I would be carrying for personal protection purposes.



Trusting this matter will be attended to in an expeditious manner, I remain,



Most Sincerely Yours,



Henry J. Statkowski



cc: Mr. Ed Patterson, Parks Director

Indiana County Parks & Trails

1128 Blue Spruce Road

Indiana, PA 15701
 

jahwarrior

Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
393
Location
, ,
imported post

hey, thanks for the idea, stat! i wrote an email, and left a voicemail to my local county commissioner, concerning this sign in McDade park:

006-3.jpg




hopefully, i'll hear back within the month.
 

mjf

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
80
Location
, ,
imported post

jahwarrior72 wrote:
hey, thanks for the idea, stat! i wrote an email, and left a voicemail to my local county commissioner, concerning this sign in McDade park:

[amazing pic here]

hopefully, i'll hear back within the month.
You may want to actually write a letter too, as letters seem to carry more weight than emails.
 

gnbrotz

Campaign Veteran
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
247
Location
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, USA
imported post

Send any postal correspondence via Certified Mail with Return Receipt. It will cost ~$5, and will prove the letter was received. Very handy when they try the "we never got it" line.
 

Statkowski

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
1,141
Location
Cherry Tree (Indiana County), Pennsylvania, USA
imported post

No response to initial letter, so a follow-up went out today.
[align=right]Tuesday, July 22, 2008[/align]


The Honorable Rodney Ruddock

County Commissioner Chairman

825 Philadelphia Street

Indiana, Pennsylvania 15701



Re: Indiana County Parks & Trails Rules and Regulations Ordinance







Dear Commissioner Ruddock:



A month ago, on June 22[suP]nd[/suP], I wrote to you and asked that the Indiana County Parks & Recreation Ordinance be corrected to comply with state law.



To date I have received neither an acknowledgement of my request nor a response of any kind.



A copy of my original letter is enclosed.



Your attention to this matter would be appreciated.



Respectfully yours,

[align=right]
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