Posted on 06/14/2010 8:12:59 AM PDT by marktwain
New rules on guns in Lackawanna County parks adopted by county commissioners last month are being challenged by local law enforcement as too lenient, and by gun-law experts as possibly unconstitutional.
Commissioners approved rules and regulations prohibiting smoking, skateboarding and other activities in county parks, including new restrictions on guns. The rule says, "No unlicensed firearms or weapons are allowed in a park." Discharging a firearm is also prohibited.
Olyphant resident Keith MacDonald challenged the language at a commissioners meeting Wednesday, saying there is no license for guns in Pennsylvania and arguing the county cannot prohibit people from openly carrying a firearm.
Meanwhile, Sheriff John Szymanski said he also plans to challenge the new rule - arguing the county should make it more strict.
"We don't allow firearms in the park," said Mr. Szymanski, whose department oversees law enforcement of county parks. "It's a public facility, and if you walk around with a gun, you're going to intimidate a lot of people. Our position is we're not allowing it and we're going to ask for clarification on that point."
The wording of park rules, unchanged or made more strict, could set off a constitutional debate on gun rights in Lackawanna County, experts say. County solicitor John O'Brien said they are reviewing the language and looking to see how it can be updated.
"Our intention is not to make illegal anything that you can already do under state law," Mr. O'Brien said, indicating he thinks openly carrying a firearm in a park might be allowed under state law.
Mr. O'Brien couldn't say what the county meant by an "unlicensed firearm."
"What is an unlicensed firearm?" asked attorney Edward Bilik, who takes on gun law cases in the western part of the state. "I believe that they're pre-empting state statute with that,
(Excerpt) Read more at thetimes-tribune.com ...
The mentality of many law makers seems to be that, as long as a bill is introduced and a majority of senators, congressmen, boardmembers, ect, vote in favor of it, then it is law.
They just don't realize that some things are not up to them, no matter how much they vote on it.
For example, if they vote that people MUST NOT use spoons on Mondays, and forks are forbidden on Sundays, is that law? Is that up to them to decide?
ping
There is NOTHING more dangerous to a lib than the TRUTH. Uh, with the possible exception of a GUN, that is. It’s just so damned difficult (and dangerous) to enslave 150 million armed Americans, don’t ya know.
“...or weapons...”
What is a weapon? Is it the little leagues baseball bat, the cake knife used to cut the cake at a picnic, a pocketknife?
Ortiz v. Commonwealth is already settled law, you ignorant, power-hungry buffoon.
Because the ownership of firearms is constitutionally protected, its regulation is a matter of statewide concern. The constitution does not provide that the right to bear arms shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth, except Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where it may be abridged at will, but that it shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth. Thus, regulation of firearms is a matter of concern in all of Pennsylvania, not merely in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the General Assembly, not city councils, is the proper forum for the imposition of such regulation.
Emphasis mine. It's a shame that the only requirement to be a Sheriff these days is a pulse.
Sheriff John Szymanski is an anti-Bill of Rights elitist and may be a racist as well. If he arrests anyone for bearing arms he should be arrested for violating their civil rights under color of law.
A couple of years in the pen in general population would do him a lot of good.
Ever watch an old Western movie, you know where a town is over run with crooks, so they hire a gunfighter who cleans out the bad guys, guess who they go after next?
Tough crap for the county. They need to learn what preemption means.
A Pennsylvania board of County Commissioners is easily swayed. There are only three Commissioners, by State Constitution there must be one from the minority party.
My guess is that in Lackawana County the composition is 2-D/1-R and the vote was along those same party lines.
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