Firearm Preemption Laws
Gun control supporters demand that state legislatures impose a wide variety of gun control restrictions within their borders. However, they hypocritically cry foul when legislatures use their power to limit gun control. Frustrated at their inability to convince state legislatures to adopt the restrictive firearm laws they propose, gun control supporters say that local jurisdictions should be able to adopt those restrictions independently.
Aside from gun control supporters’ hypocrisy, there are multiple arguments against local restrictions on basic firearm rights. Historically, some local jurisdictions have imposed clearly unconstitutional restrictions on gun ownership—the District of Columbia’s and Chicago’s since-overturned handgun bans being two recent examples. It also creates confusion when laws vary widely within a state, potentially placing otherwise law-abiding citizens at risk of violating an ordinance of which they were not previously aware, as they travel within their states, and more so when they travel outside their state of residence.
As a result, almost all states today have a law prohibiting local jurisdictions from imposing gun control restrictions that are more severe than state law.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
As gun rights groups galvanize around a new Pennsylvania law making it easier to challenge local gun laws, ...
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Philadelphia City Council is moving to suspend about a dozen gun laws that are not being enforced in ...
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Let no one accuse the National Rifle Association of being slow on the draw: It is suing Pittsburgh, ...
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Pennsylvania's capital city is facing a lawsuit believed to be the first filed under a new state law ...
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
A new state law is taking aim at Pennsylvania municipalities that have their own gun laws, and Reading ...
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
City Council on Dec. 8 had started the process of repealing its requirement that gun owners report lost ...
Monday, December 8, 2014
Attorney General Kathleen Kane has signaled she won't stand for the state in defense of a bill adopted ...
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
The Pennsylvania House's passage Monday of a controversial bill granting legal standing to the National Rifle Association to ...
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
In the final minutes of the legislative session, the House on Monday approved a bill clearing the way ...
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Pittsburgh and other communities with firearms regulations could soon face lawsuits from the National Rifle Association and other ...