June 29, 2015
Cities across Pennsylvania are considering whether to bring back local gun ordinances after a controversial state law was overturned, Newsworks reports.
The law granted special legal status to gun-rights groups.
The overturned law, known as Act 192, gave gun rights groups the power to sue towns and municipalities whose gun laws contradict the state's, without having to find a resident who could show "harm" caused by the local law. Act 192 also required that local governments that lost in court pay the victor's legal fees.
As a result, about 100 Pennsylvania towns and cities took their gun-control regulations off the books to avoid risking a costly lawsuit.
"People want to put those ordinances back on the books," Shira Goodman, head of the gun-control advocacy group Cease Fire PA, told Newsworks. "Some will do so quickly. Some will wait and see if there's an appeal. Many of these towns felt they were forced into a corner, acting under duress."
Gun-rights advocates argue that local gun ordinances differing from state laws are illegal.
Read more from Newsworks.
