Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Kennett Square officials urge lawmakers to take action on gun violence
KENNETT SQUARE » Kennett Square officials want the community to know that action is needed immediately to end the spate of gun violence.
Council unanimously adopted a resolution Monday night calling for state and local legislators to take action against gun violence. After the vote was taken, the crowd of about 50 applauded.
“The resolution recognizes and respects the Second Amendment,” said Councilman Wayne Braffman. “But let’s be clear about the Second Amendment. None of us knows what that means because the Second Amendment means what the Supreme Court of the United States says it means on any given day.”
Mayor Matt Fetick, a former West Chester police officer, said he has received more emails about any other topic during his tenure in office, even more than truck traffic.
“I can tell you that in the last two weeks, I can’t walk from my house on Union Street to the center of town without people asking me about gun violence and what are we going to do about it,” Fetick said.
The resolution, which carries no legislative weight, calls on lawmakers to enact laws to reduce gun violence, including:
• Preventing known and suspected terrorists, those convicted of violent hate crimes and those with a history of domestic abuse from buying guns;
• Funding research into the effect of gun violence and gun safety technology;
• Requiring trigger locks on guns in all homes where children are present;
• Banning access to assault-style weapons;
• Restricting the number
of permissible cartridges in a clip;
• Restricting ownership of firearms by the mentally ill;
• Ensuring that background checks are required on all sales, including online and at gun shows;
• Preserving the provisions of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System, which provides instant access to background records.
“Some say this is a meaningless resolution,” Braffmam said. “But a couple of years ago, the Pennsylvania State Legislature passed a law forbidding municipalities from passing gun legislation. Legally the only recourse we have is by resolutions like this.”
A similar resolution was adopted recently by Downingtown officials.
“Assault-style rifles that are military grade should have different restrictions on them,” Fetick said. “And I am a constitutional person. If we can’t agree that something that can fire off 30 rounds in a second shouldn’t have different eyesight over it, then we have to have a different gun organization. I can stand behind this resolution. We owe it to our community to take a second look.”
Kennett Square has a full-time School Resource Officer, Jerome Boyer, who patrols the hallways at Kennett High School and at Mary D. Lang Elementary School.
“We have a Kennnett school right in town,” Fetick said. “We are lucky we have a School Resource Officer.
There will never be a day as long as I am sitting here that we won’t have an officer at those schools. We will find the money. We will absolutely have an officer at the school. Period.”
A couple of residents addressed council telling them they have no authority to adopt the resolution, and should concentrate on issues specific to the town.
“It is common and standard for borough councils and township supervisors to take positions on resolutions and issues of state and national import,” Braffman said. “I think it is a valid avenue for us to explore.”
The issue has been a hot topic nationally since the murders of 17 people at a high school in Florida three weeks ago. Only nine weeks into the year, there have already been 12 school shootings. Nearly 115,000 people are shot and nearly 34,000 people die from gun violence yearly in the United States.
“Thoughts and prayers won’t bring back those Parkland kids,” Braffman said. “Thoughts and prayers do not protect kids at Mary D. Lang. We need to do something.”
Fetick said officials are obligated to take action to stop the gun violence.
“I can’t see where this resolution takes away anybody’s rights under the Second Amendment,” he said. “I just can’t.”
Said Councilman Ethan Cramer: “Gun violence affects the soul of our community. I am strongly in support of this (resolution).”