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  1. #1
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    Default Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation

    After our recent success in this thread, next up is Lower Makefield Township's preemption violation:

    CHAPTER 141. PARKS AND RECREATION AREAS

    § 141-26. Firearms, hatchets, axes, saws and knives or weapons.

    No person shall:
    A. Bring into or upon the park system nor have in his or her possession nor discharge or set off anywhere within the park system any revolver, pistol, rifle, shotgun, air rifle or pistol or any gun, rifle, firearm or bow and arrow or other weapon that discharges projectiles either by air, explosive force or by any other substance.
    I sent the following letter to the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors, and sent courtesy copies to the township's Park and Recreation Board and solicitor David Truelove:

    Board of Supervisors
    Lower Makefield Township Building
    1100 Edgewood Road
    Yardley, PA 19067

    Gentlemen:

    I am writing to bring to the attention of the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors an ordinance of the Township relating to parks and recreation areas that appears to be in violation of state law. The Lower Makefield Township Code, Chapter 141, subsection 26 (a) states the following:

    “No person shall…[b]ring into or upon the park system nor have in his or her possession…any revolver, pistol, rifle, shotgun…firearm…or other weapon that discharges projectiles either by air, explosive force or by any other substance.”

    It is my belief that this ordinance is in violation of Title 18, section 6120, subsection (a) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes which states:

    “No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms…when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this commonwealth.”

    The preemption statute in 18 PA C.S. §6120 (a) was passed in 1995 under the Uniform Firearms Act. It appears that Chapter 141 of the Lower Makefield Township Code was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in April of 1979. However, there was no grandfathering of existing limitations, so in any event, Lower Makefield Township Code §141-26 (a) as it stands today is improper and unenforceable under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

    I respectfully request that that the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors please look into this matter and advise when it has been resolved.

    Sincerely,


    [kcr121]

    cc: Lower Makefield Township Solicitor David Truelove
    cc: Lower Makefield Township Park and Recreation Board
    Here are the addresses for the above officials:

    Board of Supervisors
    Lower Makefield Township Building
    1100 Edgewood Road
    Yardley, PA 19067

    Park and Recreation Board
    Lower Makefield Township Building
    1100 Edgewood Road
    Yardley, PA 19067

    David Truelove
    Lower Makefield Township Solicitor
    Hill Wallack LLP
    777 Township Line Road, Suite 250
    Yardley, PA 19067

    Additionally, here are the email addresses for the members of the Board of Supervisors:

    Greg Caiola
    Chairman of the Board
    gcaiola@lmt.org

    Pete Stainthorpe
    Vice Chairman
    pstainthorpe@lmt.org

    Ronald Smith
    Secretary
    rsmith@lmt.org

    Daniel McLaughlin
    Treasurer
    dmclaughlin@lmt.org

    Matt Maloney
    Supervisor
    mmaloney@lmt.org

    I encourage anyone reading this to contact the above officials and request that they bring Lower Makefield Township's code into compliance with the laws of our Commonwealth. Any correspondence I receive will be posted in this thread.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation

    Posted at http://www.lmt.org/bos/2011/bos_agenda.pdf, the agenda for this evening's meeting of the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors:

    LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP
    BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
    June 1, 2011
    7:30 PM

    ...

    XI. OTHER BUSINESS
    a. Discussion of carrying firearms in Township Parks
    If you're local to Lower Makefield Township, you can watch the meeting live on Comcast channel 22 or Verizon FIOS channel 20.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Hatboro, Pennsylvania
    (Montgomery County)
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    Default Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation

    Emails sent

  4. #4
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    Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
    (Cumberland County)
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    Default Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation

    Great work, i'll be interested to see how they resolve this. I'm local in Langhorne and while I don't frequent Lower Makefield i'm glad your attempting to resolve this before it becomes an issue for someone who is doing nothing wrong.
    MOLON LABE

  5. #5
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    Bucks Cty, Pennsylvania
    (Bucks County)
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    Default Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation

    Watched it on the cable channel because I did not see this thread till about 8 when the Stanley Cup Finals were starting, or I would of gone to the meeting.

    The Solicitor made sense till he said he would look further into the preemption, and asked if July or September was ok to get back to the Supervisors. The Police Chief said since it has never been a problem, it is no rush. The one Supervisor said no rush and 2018 would be ok. The other Supervisors then joked that 2016 would be quick enough.

    The people from the public that spoke, and the same morons get up every meeting, were clue less.

    Maybe at the next meeting we should have an open carry night!


    .
    "The more people I meet, the more I like my dog."

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation

    Quote Originally Posted by theo View Post
    Watched it on the cable channel because I did not see this thread till about 8 when the Stanley Cup Finals were starting, or I would of gone to the meeting.

    The Solicitor made sense till he said he would look further into the preemption, and asked if July or September was ok to get back to the Supervisors. The Police Chief said since it has never been a problem, it is no rush. The one Supervisor said no rush and 2018 would be ok. The other Supervisors then joked that 2016 would be quick enough.

    The people from the public that spoke, and the same morons get up every meeting, were clue less.

    Maybe at the next meeting we should have an open carry night!


    .
    Thanks for the update. I wasn't able to watch it live, as I'm outside of the viewing area. I'll wait to see the video of the meeting posted on the township website before I contact them again.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation

    I'm sure you were joking, but PLEASE, anything approaching any idea like an "open carry night" would be the absolute worst thing any of us could do. That is not the way to address these issues.

    By the way KCR, your letter was respectful, professional ,serious and on point. That is how we need to project ourselves. Thank you.

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