Washington Co - Peters Twp enacts own gun laws

[WhiteFeather]

For others in the rest of the state info.
Peters Twp is in northern Washington County that abuts next to Allegheny County.
In the last 10+ years Peters has turned from a rural twp with lots of big farms to one big suburban sprawling housing track with only a couple farms left or any kind of open space left.
note also the guns owners showed up to voice their opposition

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07207/804282-55.stm

Council accused of breaking law for firearms ban
Thursday, July 26, 2007

By Janice Crompton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Several dozen angry residents and gun rights advocates filled the Peters Council meeting Monday, asking council to reconsider an ordinance unanimously passed at its July 9 meeting that bans firearms and other dangerous weapons from township parks and most township-owned buildings.

Council members were accused of breaking the law, facilitating criminal activity, and defying the U.S. Constitution for establishing the ban, which came about after a resident carried a concealed handgun into a heated zoning hearing board meeting.

Although the resident didn't brandish or threaten to use the weapon, a board member felt intimidated when he spotted the gun, which the resident had a license to carry.

Peters already had a law on the books banning the discharge of weapons on township property.

Resident and former Councilman Peter Glasser told council he felt they'd created "free crime zones," because concealed weapons kept remote walking trails safe, while Judy Brown of the Second Amendment Sisters gave council a history lesson on Second Amendment rights. The group represents women who own firearms.

Ms. Brown questioned what constituted a "dangerous weapon," also banned from township property.

Ron Boocks, 21, asked council to rescind the ordinance, saying he frequently uses walking trails alone and citing statistics that show firearm ownership reduces crime.

Allegheny County Sportsmen's League, Inc. legislative committee Chairman Kim Stolfer told council it broke the law and may have committed a misdemeanor by passing the ordinance.

"The Pennsylvania Crimes Code makes it illegal to enact ordinances of this type," Mr. Stolfer said.

He said his organization wanted to work with the township to find a better solution and asked council to revisit the issue.

Under Pennsylvania law, residents who hold a license to carry firearms are permitted to possess and transport them anywhere in the state except onto school property or courthouse facilities. A specific provision in the state law prohibits counties and municipalities from regulating the possession, ownership or transportation of firearms.

Nonetheless, council moved forward with the ordinance because several governmental entities have challenged the law with mixed results, including Jefferson County, which successfully banned firearms from county offices because they were located in the same facility as the courthouse.

However, on Monday, Councilwoman Patricia Moore, the only Democrat on council, said a legal adviser told her the ordinance in Peters probably wouldn't stand up in court.

Councilman David Ball, a National Rifle Association member, told audience members council was trying to consider the safety of people in meetings and at parks.

"Our hearts were in the right place," he said.

Mr. Ball proposed council put the ordinance on hold for now, until more research on the issue could be conducted. The proposal was unanimously approved by 5-0. Councilmen James Berquist and Robert Lewis were absent.

[tourrider]

> "Our hearts were in the right place," he said.

Too bad their head was jammed far up their backside.

[rev214]

Nonetheless, council moved forward with the ordinance because several governmental entities have challenged the law with mixed results, including Jefferson County, which successfully banned firearms from county offices because they were located in the same facility as the courthouse.

However, on Monday, Councilwoman Patricia Moore, the only Democrat on council, said a legal adviser told her the ordinance in Peters probably wouldn't stand up in court.

sounds like they came down with a bad case of philadelphia disease...
sorry to hear there are outbreaks of this sort in the western part of the state...

[PAGLOCK23]

This is a link to todayspaper about Peters Twp. gun laws.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/..._gun_advocates

[knight0334]

I say let them enact the law.. then find out what it's like to be sued out of existence and charged with criminal penalties.

[RoyJackson]

I say let them enact the law.. then find out what it's like to be sued out of existence and charged with criminal penalties.

Yeah...but think about who pays for lawsuit settlements...it isn't the folks in office, and I'll give you a hint...begins with "T" and everyone who has an income is one.

I reckon these folks are just looking for a face saving out.

[Statkowski]

Welll, according to the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System rules, an individual could file a Private Criminal Complaint against the township supervisors. That might get them moving. Of course, it has to go through the district attorney before it goes to the magistrate, but even if the district attorney stops it, it still might get someone's attention.

The UJS site is http://www.courts.state.pa.us/judici...l/local-rules/. Go to UJS Forms, and then Private Criminal Complaint. Doesn't look like it costs anything (and why should it if it's a criminal complaint?).

This form is to be used by private citizens when requesting criminal charges be filed against a defendant. Please note that Rule 506 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure requires that when a private citizen completes this form, it must be submitted to the attorney for the Commonwealth's office for approval before it can be filed in a Pennsylvania magisterial district court. It may be filed ONLY in a Pennsylvania magisterial district court, and NOT in the Philadelphia Municipal Court. No changes may be made to this form, either in content or format, without the express written approval of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. Effective date for use of this form is July 1, 1996.

[Jelanen]

Yeah, all that and THEN then called an illegal executive session to discuss the laws. There are only a few reasons that executive sessions are allowed to be called, and discussing legislation is definitely not one of them, though I'm sure the council would call it "discussion of pending legal matters" or whatever. There are no penalties associated with the violation of Sunshine laws in this state and its atrocious. And shame on that paper for not calling them on it like I see the Pottstown Mercury reporters doing all the time to the borough council.

[gnbrotz]

I reckon these folks are just looking for a face saving out.

My first gut reaction was that they intend to keep on continuing the issue until public turnout against it fades, at which point they'll pass it.

Even if the opposition comes back, at that point at least they'll have it in place.

[mrskimbercdp]

Here's another update, from the August 13 Council meeting. Meetings are the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 7:30pm, so the next on is August 27.

Link to article by Carla Valentine Myers

Firearms advocates returned to Peters Township Council for a second meeting in a row on Aug. 13.

After a public outcry July 23, council placed a stay on an ordinance that had not yet taken effect which would have prohibited possession of firearms in township parks and buildings.

Council is expected to decide whether to repeal or enforce the ordinance at a future date.

On Aug. 13, Judy Brown, Pennsylvania coordinator of the Second Amendment Sisters and an Upper St. Clair resident, asked council what they were planning to do with the ordinance that is currently in limbo.

Councilman Robert Lewis told her that council had not discussed when they might act on that ordinance.

Also on Aug. 13, Peter Glasser, township resident and former councilman, who had spoken against the firearms ordinance came to council to ask that they repeal two additional firearms ordinances.

He said he objected to the township's ordinance regulating hunting in the township, which he says prohibits hunting altogether in the western portion of the township and places restrictions on it in the eastern part of the township - even on private property.

Glasser said that only the Pennsylvania Game Commission has the authority to regulate hunting in the state.

"It is an illegal ordinance just like the last gun ordinance," he said.

Glasser said he also objects to the township ordinance that prohibits the discharge of firearms even in the act of self defense.

"The township has no right to criminalize self defense," he said.

Glasser said "Peters Township is rapidly gaining a reputation as the Little Rock, Arkansas," of our time.

That town was the site of a 1957 incident where local officials refused to comply with a court order to de-segregate their public schools.

Glasser said "this council doesn't have the right to defy the law of the land."

Lewis called an executive session meeting with the township's solicitor after the Aug. 13 meeting to discuss the township's various firearms ordinances.