PA Bill Number: SB1198
Title: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and ...
Description: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and .. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Last Action Date: May 17, 2024
Gun group to protest Lower Merion ordinance for guns in parks Sunday :: 03/11/2015
Two gun owners’ groups who maintain that a Lower Merion ordinance does not pass muster under Pennsylvania law plan to rally in the township this weekend.
Concerned Gun Owners of Pennsylvania, based in Bucks County, and Firearms Owners Against Crime, a statewide organization and PAC, have announced they will meet Sunday, March 15, at 1 p.m. in Bala Cynwyd Park. They are protesting Lower Merion commissioners’ decision to not revise or rescind a provision in township code that addresses the carrying or discharge of guns in parks.
The groups are billing the gathering as a “Families for Freedom Rally” and a “celebration” of 2nd Amendment rights to bear arms. They invite families to attend with both signs and legally carried firearms.
As word of the rally has spread, however, it has prompted concern and resentment that the groups are focusing their protest in a place that should be a haven for children’s play and recreation for Lower Merion residents of all ages.
The demonstration stems from the Lower Merion board’s decision in January to not pursue revision of a section of code regulating activities in parks, under threat of a lawsuit by gun rights organizations.
The potential legal challenge followed by weeks former Gov. Tom Corbett’s signing into law Act 192 of 2014, which strengthened Pennsylvania’s so-called preemption law that prohibits municipalities from enacting local ordinances that exceed state law regulating the transportation and carrying of firearms.
Lower Merion’s code contains the provision that “No person, except authorized members of the Police Department, shall carry or discharge firearms of any kind in a park without a special permit, unless exempted.”
While a majority of commissioners determined that the provision complies with state law and does not prohibit legal carrying of firearms in township parks – the “unless exempted” wording applies, they said, to anyone who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon or who legally carries an unconcealed weapon – the groups calling for the rally say the code is ambiguous and could be construed as a ban on firearms in parks.
The high-stakes change with the enactment of Act 192 is that it gives new standing to guns rights groups like the NRA and other parties to challenge local ordinances – and to make municipalities liable for all legal costs if a challenge is successful.
Since an attorney, Joshua Prince of the Firearms Consulting Group, began sending letters warning of potential challenges, many municipalities have acted quickly to rescind ordinances. In January, Lower Merion Township Manager Ernie McNeely had recommended – to be “prudent” – revising the park provision to refer only to discharge of firearms.
At the same time, however, commissioners were aware of a challenge of Act 192 led by the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lancaster and several Democratic legislators including state Sen. Daylin Leach, who represents Lower Merion as part of the 17th District.
They filed suit in Commonwealth Court to overturn Act 192 as unconstitutional, on the basis that it violated “single subject” and “original purpose” rules by tacking the expansion of standing onto an act dealing with the theft of metals.
Oral arguments in that case are scheduled for hearing by the court in early April.
In the meantime, however, Kim Stolfer, president of Firearms Owners Against Crime, said in an interview this week that the open-carry rally in Lower Merion is being called to celebrate the strengthening of preemption by the passage of Act 192, and, more generally, to counteract “the unfounded paranoia [about] gun ownership.”
“Gun owners across Pennsylvania are tired of being made the scapegoat for criminals. Local ordinances are nothing more than a manifestation of that,” Stolfer said. “Criminals do not respect boundaries or attitudes,” he said, while “law-abiding citizens with guns are an asset” to communities.
In fact, he suggested, despite efforts of gun regulation groups such as CeaseFire PA to “instill fear,” Bala Cynwyd Park on Sunday, with the presence of the rally participants, “will be the safest place in Lower Merion that day.”
Joe Sweeney, a member of Concerned Gun Owners of Pennsylvania who will speak at the rally, said the group formed in Bucks County in early 2013, after the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut. It is a “grass-roots organization” made up of members “from every walk of life” who “all have the common belief in the 2nd Amendment.”
It formed in response to a rush to try to pass new gun legislation in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, Sweeney said. According to a statement on its website, its goal is “to educate the general public and move individuals to action to address the real causes of gun violence:” the actions of “deranged individuals and criminals.”
In supporting preemption in particular, Sweeney said the purpose is to guard against a “patchwork” of local laws. “If every township or borough was allowed to pass its own legislation, going from town to town” responsible gun owners ”would have to keep track of ordinances” to avoid violations.
As for Lower Merion's code, “We disagree with the contention that they [the township] comply with state law.” The ordinance does not define “exempted,” he points out. Stolfer with FOAC agreed, “If it’s not clear, it creates an atmosphere and an attitude that there could be a ban.” By sending letters to municipalities, “We were giving them an opportunity” to repeal unlawful ordinances. “We don’t want to sue anyone,” Sweeney said.
On Sunday, they said, there will be speakers including Prince, the attorney with the Firearms Industry Consulting Group. Families with children are being encouraged to attend. There will be a walk around the perimeter of the park at 398 Trevor Lane.
Among activities, a press release states there will be raffles for attendees; all will receive one ticket for attending, while “ladies and children” will receive two tickets. An entry on CGOPA’s Facebook page lists apparel items from the organizations, a special holster and ammunition among prizes.
Asked about what types of firearms participants may carry, Sweeney said holstered sidearms are requested. “We’ve asked people not to bring long arms. That’s not the image we want to project,” he said, but added, “We will not stop someone from exercising their rights.”
For many of the local residents who have contacted him, Bala Cynwyd Commissioner George Manos said, those rights infringe on their own ability to enjoy their local public park. “The whole thing is unfortunate,” he said.
One who voted not to pursue revising Lower Merion’s ordinance, Manos said, though many residents have been surprised to learn that guns are permitted in parks, “once a gun is legally obtained you are permitted to carry it openly,” or, by permit, to carry it concealed. Carrying is “prohibited only where state law prohibits it,” in schools or courthouses.
Shira Goodman, executive director of CeaseFire PA, said her organization has been contacted by a number of Lower Merion residents who want to know what they can do to protest the rally. CeaseFire PA is recommending, she said, “not to go to the park. Don’t give [the groups] attention. Don’t provoke a confrontation.” It is not organizing a counter-demonstration.
Goodman did say, however, that the rally seems to be intended “to intimidate the township commissioners and the residents. To us, that is offensive.”
She is also hopeful that Act 192 will be overturned. There may be an attempt in the legislature to pass a new “clean” bill, “but I think it will be harder.” New Gov. Tom Wolf can be expected to veto it,” she added. She is “hopeful that some exemptions to preemption” may eventually be adopted.
On that point, Stofer might agree. “If you don’t like the law, go to Harrisburg and change it,” he said. But at present, municipalities like Lower Merion cannot be more restrictive.
“This is a civil right,” Stofer said. To that extent, Sunday’s rally in Lower Merion “is a Rosa Parks moment.”
