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May 20th, 2011, 10:50 PM #1
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.
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
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.
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June 1st, 2011, 06:32 PM #2
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
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June 1st, 2011, 06:39 PM #3
Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation
Emails sent
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June 1st, 2011, 08:23 PM #4
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
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June 1st, 2011, 09:33 PM #5Super Member
- Join Date
- Jul 2009
- Location
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Bucks Cty,
Pennsylvania
(Bucks County) - Posts
- 927
- Rep Power
- 37301
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."
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June 1st, 2011, 09:55 PM #6
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June 1st, 2011, 11:12 PM #7Super Member
- Join Date
- Jul 2009
- Location
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Bucks Cty,
Pennsylvania
(Bucks County) - Posts
- 927
- Rep Power
- 37301
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June 1st, 2011, 11:19 PM #8
Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation
Sounds like it went reasonably well, i'll be following this one.
MOLON LABE
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June 2nd, 2011, 06:29 AM #9
Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation
Video of the meeting is up at http://www.lmt.org/
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June 18th, 2011, 12:12 PM #10
Re: Lower Makefield Township Preemption Violation
KCR... first
Kudos on jumping on this. I have lived and worked in the Newtown/Yardley area my whole life and carry in Tyler State Park (Newtown) as well as Washington Crossing (Makefield) thinking I would be without incident.
Secondly,
A friend of mine is married to the vice chairman (Benchener).. however it may be my friends' father, I am unclear if he is a junior but seems rather young to hold that title. If no progress is made drop me a line, I can at least get him to hear me out.
Way to go KCR!
-Rob Gregory"More is lost through indecision than wrong decision"
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