PA Bill Number: HR541
Title: Recognizing the month of October 2024 as "Domestic Violence Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
Description: A Resolution recognizing the month of October 2024 as "Domestic Violence Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
Last Action:
Last Action Date: Sep 27, 2024
Preemption: Lower Makefield - Supervisors vote down Gun Control resolution asking state, federal lawmakers to enact tougher laws :: 10/21/2016
LOWER MAKEFIELD After more than an hour of contentious debate, the board of supervisors on Wednesday night voted 3-2 to shoot down a non-binding resolution asking state and federal lawmakers to enact stronger protections against gun violence.
At the Oct. 19 meeting, Republican Supervisors Jeff Benedetto, Kristin Tyler and David Fritchey voted against the resolution, while Democrats John Lewis and Judi Reiss voted to approve it.
The board members who opposed the measure argued that municipalities in Pennsylvania lack the legal power to regulate firearms, arguing that authority, by law, rests solely with the state and federal governments.
“This has nothing to do with protecting our township, this is a political resolution,” decried Chairman Benedetto. “This is a colossal waste of time.”
The supervisors, as well as several township residents, sparred over the wording of the resolution, which supervisor Lewis had introduced several weeks ago and was put on this meeting’s agenda for discussion.
Lewis said he took the language from a similar resolution passed by the Solebury Township Board of Supervisors in September in an effort to petition federal and state legislators to pass “responsible gun-safety laws” to “protect the health and safety of our residents.”
He labeled his resolution as “non-partisan.”
“Many people view this area as sacrosanct,” Lewis said. “All we’re doing is assuring our right to local control.”
He continued, “It’s a starting point, there’s a reason why law enforcement believes in gun safety measures.”
The proposed resolution recognized that residents have a Second Amendment right to bear arms and only the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Congress can regulate firearms in the state.
However, the measure called on federal and state lawmakers to ensure that terrorists, criminals or those with a history of domestic abuse are prohibited from buying guns, and that background checks be required on all gun sales.
In addition, the resolution petitioned lawmakers to pass legislation requiring trigger locks on firearms in homes where children are present, and ban assess to assault-style rifles. It also called for limiting the permissible number of bullets in a clip or magazine.
The measure also called on legislators to fund research into gun violence and gun-safety technology.
But most of all, it asked that Congress and the General Assembly allow local governments, such as Lower Makefield, to limit gun possession and use on municipally-owned property, such as parks, playgrounds and in administration buildings.
Supervisor Reiss, an admitted gun owner who said that she hunted with her father when she was a teenager, explained that the resolution was merely a “safety measure,” and is not an attempt to limit gun owners’ rights.
“I don’t want to keep people from buying a gun who should be able to,” she maintained. “I want the laws that we have to be enforced.”
However, Supervisor Fritchey, a former U.S. Army major and federal prosecutor, said that while he had “a lot of sympathy for gun safety laws,” he categorized the measure as “a feel-good resolution.”
According to Fritchey, firearms regulation is strictly the legal purview of the federal and state governments, noting that municipalities have “many local issues to decide” such as land development, road repairs and zoning.
“None of this is the business of the township,” he said of the gun-control resolution. “I’m voting against this, I think that we should be focusing on the other things on our plate.”
But Chairman Benedetto was blunter in his opposition.
“If you take guns away from law-abiding citizens and create gun-free zones, then people can come in and shoot up a theater, shoot up a school,” he vehemently warned.
In a long public comment period, several residents voiced their opposition, including Peter Lachance, the Pennsylvania state constable for Lower Makefield, who labeled the proposed resolution “a huge waste of time.
“This has nothing to do with hunting,” he said about calls for limiting the number of rounds in gun clips, “When you have bad people coming after you.”
Township resident Bob Abrams, a local business owner who sported a T-shirt emblazoned with the Ruger® gun maker’s logo, criticized the board for politicizing the issue.
“You’re taking a shot at the responsible gun owners who want to protect themselves,” he claimed.
Abrams also said that the township police department should offer gun safety courses, a point which drew support from several supervisors, including Reiss.
But other residents, such as David Appelbaum and Zachary Rubin, applauded Supervisor Lewis’ attempt to limit gun violence.
Appelbaum, who brought his teenage son, Isaac, to the meeting, thanked Lewis for introducing such a resolution to protect the community.
Rubin offered a similar sentiment.
“All the time this board passes resolutions asking legislators to do things,” he asserted. “That’s all this resolution is asking for.”
A point to which Supervisor Lewis agreed.
“It’s reasonable for us to ask our legislators to make changes in the laws,” he said. “We’re asking that the township’s rights not be restricted, we’re not asking that your [gun] rights be taking away.”
When asked for his opinion on the matter, Police Chief Ken Coluzzi said that the resolution is merely a “position statement.
“You’re entitled to make a position statement,” the chief pointed out. “Gun safety is an important issue.”
http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2016/10/20/yardley_news/news/doc5808ea993a9b7216200535.txt
