The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial published an editorial today in support of Michael Bloomburg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
In addition to Philadelphia, officials in Pittsburgh, Allentown, Reading, Easton, Pottsville, and Wilkinsburg have adopted such ordinances in hopes of forcing the hand of lawmakers who toe the National Rifle Association line.
Translation: Seven cities in Pennsylvania, while in a period of financial hardship, are wasting money defending illegal ordinances, in hopes of forcing the hand of lawmakers who to the Constitutional line.
As it happened, the city did come away with something: The court left untouched the city’s lost-and-stolen reporting requirement, its restrictions on gun ownership by people under domestic-abuse court orders, and its right to seize weapons when someone is regarded as a threat. That’s for now, since the case likely is headed to the state Supreme Court.
While the editorial is correct in that the court did leave these ordinances intact, the court only addressed the issue of standing, not the legality of these ordinances. The editorial board manages to leave this part out.