Senator urged to shoot down this bad gun bill
To The Times: I was walking my dog in Delaware County’s Glen Providence Park the other day when I noticed a sign that listed all of the items and behaviors that were prohibited in the park. I was surprised to read that one of the prohibitions was possession of a firearm. While this struck me as a perfectly reasonable restriction in a public park often frequented by children and families, I also knew that the rule was in violation of state law. In Pennsylvania, it’s perfectly legal to openly carry a firearm in public, including in a public park.
The county’s posting caught my attention because I was aware that the Pennsylvania Senate is likely to vote on Senate Bill 5 (SB 5) in the coming days or weeks.
SB 5 is legislation that is designed to punish local cities, towns, and counties that pass gun safety ordinances that may contradict current state law. If passed, SB 5 would give the NRA and/or their most extremist members who live outside our community the special legal standing to sue our local municipalities and county for trying to protect communities and families from gun violence. On top of that, local taxpayers would be required to pay for the plaintiff’s legal fees if they prevail in their legal attack on our local governments.
It’s important to understand that the law already protects an individual who is actually “harmed” by an illegal local gun ordinance. For example, if the Delaware County Park Police removed an individual from Glen Providence Park for carrying a semi-automatic, military-style rifle, that person could sue the county for violation of rights. SB5, if it became law, would extend the right to sue to individuals or groups who were not directly harmed, who don’t know or care about our local community, and who may not be able to find Media, Pa., on a map. This legislation is designed to serve the political agenda of anti-gun regulation extremists and provide financial incentives for their lawyers to file lawsuits to make political statements.
Fortunately, a bipartisan coalition of state senators who represent Delaware County has announced opposition to SB5. Sen. Tom Killion, R-9, Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, and Sen. Anthony Williams, D-8, are all voting no on this misguided piece of legislation.
Only Sen. Tom McGarrigle, a Republican representing the 26th senatorial district, where Glen Providence Park is located, is undecided. The senator thinks it’s a bad idea that Delaware County should be able to decide its own local gun ordinances and regulations. He believes that gun law should be the domain of the state Legislature. On the other hand, Sen. McGarrigle admits that he’s troubled by the overreach of the special legal standing provision.
Sen. McGarrigle has been a reliable supporter of sensible gun policy, supporting universal background checks on gun sales and strengthening restrictions on domestic abusers’ access to guns. Constituents who appreciate the senator’s common sense stances on gun policy hope that he takes the time to study SB5 closely. We believe that after thoughtful examination of all the issues, Sen. McGarrigle will join us in concluding that we can preserve state control of gun law without providing unprecedented – and likely unconstitutional – special legal standing to extremist groups and their most extreme members.
“This legislation is designed to serve the political agenda of anti-gun regulation extremists.” — Terry Rumsey