Let cities regulate fireworks first and then guns
State lawmakers took an encouraging step Tuesday toward letting Allentown, Bethlehem and other cities ban the fireworks that have been annoying their residents.
So how about letting those cities also regulate the firearms that have been killing their residents?
For years, towns across
Pennsylvania have tried to reduce the carnage of gun violence by passing local laws. Repeatedly, those attempts have been thwarted by the state’s “preem- ption” law.
It says state firearms laws trump any laws that municipalities would enact. Cities cannot have gun laws that are stricter than state law.
But now, swamped by complaints, state lawmakers are proposing to do the opposite with fireworks. They’re legal statewide when used 150 feet away from homes and other buildings. But legislation that advanced Tuesday in the state Senate would let cities ban them within their borders.
Legislators are passing the buck. They don’t have the courage to repeal the state law that legalized aerial fireworks in 2017, simply to bring in tax money. But they’ve indicated they’re willing to let cities do that.
Lawmakers haven’t had the courage to take a strong stand against gun violence, either. So let local officials make those calls, too.
State Sen. Pat Browne, the Allentown Republican who proposed allowing municipal fireworks bans, told The Morning Call’s Ford Turner that the pyrotechnics were causing “tremendous
quality of life issues for communities, for seniors, for kids, for veterans” and others.
And gun violence isn’t?
Have we already forgotten the shootings that shook Allentown last summer? Over seven weeks, 25 people were wounded, including 10 in a shootout between street gangs that involved AR-15 rifles.
No city in the state wants to ban guns. There’s no reason, though, that they shouldn’t be able to enact reasonable regulations.
In 2008, Allentown tried to address illegal gun sales by requiring people to report lost or stolen guns.
The idea was to deter people from claiming their weapons were lost or stolen when they really had been sold on the street, possibly to people not allowed to own guns because of their criminal records.
The city repealed the law in 2015, fearing it would be sued by gun rights advocates. Other cities repealed similar laws.
Last year, after a mass shooting at a synagogue, Pittsburgh passed laws banning the use of assault weapons in public places. Assault weapons could not be brandished, loaded, fired, attempted to fire or pointed at anyone in public, and couldn’t be displayed in public while loaded.
A county judge overturned the laws, citing the state’s preemption law. Pittsburgh has appealed that ruling.
Cities have hit similar roadblocks when trying to enact other public safety laws. In 2011, Allentown’s law banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving was overturned for the same reason. A county judge said only the state could enact such a law. That ruling also caused Bethlehem to stop enforcing its law.
One of the biggest arguments against allowing cities, boroughs and townships to write laws that differ from state laws is that it’s difficult for people, especially travelers from out of the area, to know where it’s legal to do something and where it isn’t.
Someone having a long conversation on a cell phone could drive through five municipalities, and be legal in some and illegal in others.
There are ways to let people know, though. During its brief ban on cell phones while driving, Bethlehem had signs on all roads entering the city.
If it can be done with fireworks, it can be done with other hazards, too.
We’re still a long way from any relief on fireworks, though.
Tuesday’s vote by the state Senate was just a baby step, to amend a broader bill. The legislation still has to clear the Senate, the House and then be signed by the governor.
There was a lot of support for it, though; the vote was 48-2.
Municipalities that meet class and population thresholds would be allowed to ban fireworks. Browne said the law would cover Allentown, Bethlehem, Reading, Lancaster, Scranton, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie and Bensalem Township in Bucks County.
Some senators have called for other municipalities to be allowed the same opportunity, to protect their communities from the booms and blasts that are keeping people up all night.
I wish they’d also call for cities to have the freedom to try to protect their people from gunfire.