Found this in the Pottstown Mercury today

[cavmedic]

In a press release issued by Montgomery County Sheriff John Durante dated July 24, 2009, the sheriff states "that carrying a firearm on the trail or in any county park, regardless of whether or not one has a concealed carry permit, is illegal and a violation of the rules and regulations of the Montgomery County park system. Anyone caught in possession of a firearm in violation of these rules and regulations will immediately lose their concealed carry permit and will be turned over to the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office for prosecution."

Apparently, Montgomery County believes that it can make rules that supersedes the Commonwealth's law. The commissioners should know however that no county can pass any ordinance that supersedes state law, and in Pennsylvania it is lawful to carry a firearm in the county park. Specifically the state law says:

6120. Limitation on the Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition

(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.

In plain English that means so long as a person abides by the commonwealth's laws in regards to firearms no law enforcement officer can arrest you. Furthermore, the citizens of Pennsylvania do not have "concealed carry permits;" they are issued a License To Carry Firearms, or LTCF.

A citizen is under no obligation to carry a firearm concealed in Pennsylvania, and can in fact carry openly without breaking the law. Furthermore, Montgomery County Commissioners should know that no LTCF is needed to carry a firearm openly in Pennsylvania so long as you are over 18 and abide by the commonwealth's guidelines which can be found in Title 18, ch. 61, Subchapter A. Uniform Firearms Act.

The only areas that a person must have a LTCF to carry openly are in vehicles and in the City of Philadelphia. The areas where the commonwealth prohibits a citizen from carrying any firearm include court facilities (however, courts must provide a secure area for a citizen to store their firearm while they are in the court), federal buildings, detention facilities, and airports (secured areas only). County parks are not on the prohibited list, therefore it is perfectly legal to carry in a county park openly and/or concealed depending on whether or not a person has an LTCF.

The county commissioners need to immediately address this situation and take down the signs at county parks and trail systems that prohibit the carrying of firearms within the county parks system. Additionally, the ordinance that Montgomery County has on the books that prohibits firearms in county parks must be repealed immediately as it is a violation of Pennsylvania Law and updated signs must be placed throughout the park system.

The sheriff and the commissioners must issue a new press release to clarify that the county was mistaken when it passed the ordinance prohibiting firearms in the park system and clarify that no citizen will be arrested for abiding by the law of the commonwealth. We expect the leaders of Montgomery County to know and act within the law they are sworn to uphold.

CHIP MINTO

Pottstown

[AxiTech]

Time for a group stroll?

[64Jeeper]

Look at it this way.... Who wants to get paid by Montgomery County?

[baker]

If that was an editorial I'm impressed. Most newspapers have a word limit that I'm sure that exceeded. Great write up by the author and great job for the paper seeing the importance of the piece and actually printing it.

[chipminto]

I am the one who wrote that letter...
It came after a phone conversation I had based on a press release issued in response to a shooting that did happen on the trail (there may be a post about this somewhere on this site, but I am new here). The sherrif did indeed threaten to arrest citizens for carrying in the county parks. I called his office directly to clarify. At first he was not there and I was sent over to the gun permits office....and they told me that it was legal to carry. The sherriff then called me back and we got in a very long conversation about the press release. He told me that he was sworn to uphold the county law...I told him that he was also sworn to uphold the Commonwealths Constitution which trumped County Law. He told me he was working on in internally and that I should basically trust him because "the NRA supports" him. (he did harp on this a lot, that the NRA supported him). He asked me not to make a big deal about this as that would just cause problems. He also said that he wouldn't arrest me if I carried into the park...but he also refused to send out a new press release clarifying his mistake. Or even a memo out to the his deputies telling them that they were not to arrest or even detain people for carrying into the park. He told me to be "patient" and that I would see this work out in a few days.
So I was....and nothing happened. I then called the County Commissioners Office and they refused to get back to me after multiple phone calls.
So then it went to the Newspaper. Which is where we find ourselves today.
Interestingly enough though, if you try to find that press release from the Sheriff it has been scrubbed off the site (or at least with my limited computer knowledge I cant find it anymore...)
Anyway, new member here....thanks for reading the article.

[General Geoff]

So now the sheriff has resorted to blatant and admitted lies to get his agenda across. Fantastic.

[chipminto]

If that was an editorial I'm impressed. Most newspapers have a word limit that I'm sure that exceeded. Great write up by the author and great job for the paper seeing the importance of the piece and actually printing it.

Yeah...it was/is an editorial. And for those who are curious I wrote it prior to joining the forum here. I wrote it about three weeks ago, it takes that long I guess for them to have the space to publish something that long. I am tired of people trampling all over my rights. So, if that means I gotta tick off a Sheriff or two, oh well.

[TinGLOCK]

Welcome, Chip.

[Minor Threat]

Chip, good to see you speaking out against the sheriff who obviously knows the press release was way out of bounds

Good to have you here!

[64Jeeper]

I am the one who wrote that letter...
It came after a phone conversation I had based on a press release issued in response to a shooting that did happen on the trail (there may be a post about this somewhere on this site, but I am new here). The sherrif did indeed threaten to arrest citizens for carrying in the county parks. I called his office directly to clarify. At first he was not there and I was sent over to the gun permits office....and they told me that it was legal to carry. The sherriff then called me back and we got in a very long conversation about the press release. He told me that he was sworn to uphold the county law...I told him that he was also sworn to uphold the Commonwealths Constitution which trumped County Law. He told me he was working on in internally and that I should basically trust him because "the NRA supports" him. (he did harp on this a lot, that the NRA supported him). He asked me not to make a big deal about this as that would just cause problems. He also said that he wouldn't arrest me if I carried into the park...but he also refused to send out a new press release clarifying his mistake. Or even a memo out to the his deputies telling them that they were not to arrest or even detain people for carrying into the park. He told me to be "patient" and that I would see this work out in a few days.
So I was....and nothing happened. I then called the County Commissioners Office and they refused to get back to me after multiple phone calls.
So then it went to the Newspaper. Which is where we find ourselves today.
Interestingly enough though, if you try to find that press release from the Sheriff it has been scrubbed off the site (or at least with my limited computer knowledge I cant find it anymore...)
Anyway, new member here....thanks for reading the article.

+1 on the rep counter!! That's great stuff.

We need to get a bicycle OC event going sometime.