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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to amend the Commonwealth’s Uniform Firearms Act to permit home rule jurisdictions within the Commonwealth to fashion their own regulations regarding acquisition, carrying, and possession of firearms in order to protect the safety of their residents and visitors.
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Whereas, the Commonwealth’s Uniform Firearms Act of 1995 (codified at 18 Pa.C.S.A. §6101, et. seq.) governs firearm acquisition and possession throughout the Commonwealth; and
Whereas, as currently written, §6120 of the Uniform Firearms Act specifically provides that “[n]o 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,” and further forbids any and all local governments within the Commonwealth from initiating or maintaining any form of legal action “at law or in equity against any firearms or ammunition manufacturer, trade association or dealer for damages, abatement, injunctive relief or any other relief or remedy resulting from or relating to either the lawful design or manufacture of firearms or ammunition or the lawful marketing or sale of firearms or ammunition to the public”; and
Whereas, §6120 is reinforced by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 27, 2022, as the Court affirmed the complete inability of the City of Pittsburgh to act legislatively to restrict certain types of firearm usage within the City after the mass murder of 11 individuals at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill; and
Whereas, the Commonwealth Court case, Firearm Owners Against Crime v. City of Pittsburgh, No. 1754 C.D. 2019, invalidated a legislative act by the City of Pittsburgh that was specifically tailored and expressly intended to render the commission of additional mass murders with certain types of firear...
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