Pennsylvania......preemption bans stricter local city ordinances...
Damn.... just let it go or you gonna make me cite cases in all 43 states.
Section 6120(a) has been interpreted to preempt local ordinances banning assault weapons. In
Ortiz v. Commonwealth, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania struck down local assault weapon bans in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh under what is now subsection 6120(a).
2 The court found that the legislature had “denied all municipalities the power to regulate the ownership…transfer or possession of firearms.”
3 The court stated that the Pennsylvania Constitution “requires that home rule municipalities…not perform any power denied by” the legislature.
4 The court also noted that firearm regulation is “a matter of concern in all of Pennsylvania,” and the legislature “is the proper forum for the imposition of such regulation.”
5
Similarly, in
Schneck v. Philadelphia, a lower court held that section 6120(a) preempted a city ordinance requiring a license for the acquisition of a firearm within the city.
6
In
Clarke v. House of Representatives, an intermediate appellate court held that section 6120(a) preempted several firearm-related ordinances enacted by the City of Philadelphia in May of 2007.
7 These ordinances would have:
- Limited handgun purchases to one per month
- Mandated the reporting of lost or stolen firearms
- Required a local license to acquire a firearm or bring a firearm into Philadelphia
- Required annual renewal of this license
- Allowed a firearm to be confiscated from someone posing a risk of harm
- Prohibited the possession or transfer of assault weapons
- Required anyone selling ammunition to report the ammunition and the purchaser to the police department.
