PHILADELPHIA (Washington Insider Magazine)– On Tuesday, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney issued an executive order banning lethal weapons and firearms from the city’s parks, swimming pools, and basketball courts.
The Pennsylvania preemption legislation, which prevents municipalities from implementing or passing their own stronger gun rules, makes it difficult for Philadelphia authorities to regulate weapons inside city lines. The order is their most recent attempt to do so. City attorneys said that the executive order differs from earlier laws approved by the city council and overturned in court since it is the city administering its infrastructure as a property owner.
The formal signing also takes place the day after Kenney gave a eulogy at Tiffany Fletcher’s funeral. Tiffany Fletcher, a 41-year-old mother of three, was murdered earlier this month outside the public recreation facility where she worked after being hit by stray fire. In connection with Fletcher’s fatal shooting, a 14-year-old who was shooting at another group of teenagers has subsequently been prosecuted.
According to the executive order, park employees may contact the police if they believe a potential intruder is carrying a gun, according to ABC NEWS. The individual can then be asked to leave by police, and if they disobey, they might be charged with trespassing.
Joshua Prince, a lawyer who has defended individuals who have opposed previous municipal gun laws around the state, said he doesn’t believe it matters whether the ban is enacted as an ordinance or a presidential executive order. He asserted that state law continues to make the limitation illegal.
One of much similar legislation that has been passed throughout the nation is Pennsylvania’s preemption statute, which states that no municipal authority can control the lawful possession, transfer, or transit of guns that is not expressly forbidden by state law. More than 40 states have approved preemption laws, according to the gun regulation advocacy organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
Many of the areas trying to adopt local gun laws are cities where murders and gun violence are on the rise. At the news event on Tuesday, Kenney said that Philadelphia had committed its 400th homicide of the year, putting it on pace to match last year’s 562 homicides, which were the most in decades.
In 2020, Philadelphia officials filed a lawsuit against the state and the General Assembly for failing to pass municipal ordinances. The legal action is still pending.
A few other attempts by Philadelphia officials to regulate firearms over the years, such as a ban on the sale of assault weapons in the city, a restriction on the number of firearms a person may own, and an ordinance passed by the Philadelphia City Council that similarly forbade guns from parks and recreation centers, have all been overturned when brought before a court.
A lawyer with the city’s Law Department, Andrew Richman, argued that the executive order is distinct from the Council’s effort to limit firearms in recreational facilities.
