The Pa. Supreme Court rejected Philly’s latest attempt to pass its own gun laws

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected another attempt by Philadelphia officials to overturn a long-standing state provision that prevents the city from enacting its own gun laws.

In a 6-0 decision, the high court ruled that the city’s arguments had fallen “woefully short” of the standard needed for a legal victory — and said that despite the pleas of city attorneys and those impacted by gun violence, they had not proven that the current prohibition against local gun ordinances was the cause of Philadelphia’s gun violence.

City officials for years have attempted to overcome the legal hurdle known as preemption, which bans municipalities from passing gun-control measures that are stricter than state laws. Mayors and City Council members have nonetheless sought to ban assault-style weapons, limit handgun purchases, and prohibit guns in parks and at recreation centers — only for the courts to rule that the provisions were prohibited.

In this case, filed in 2020 by Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration, attorneys representing the city and a group of people affected by gun violence had argued in part that preemption violated Philadelphians’ constitutional rights to life and liberty — and that the General Assembly had caused the danger by failing to enact new statewide laws on its own.

City officials said that if allowed, they would enact new statutes intended to make it harder for people to obtain weapons for criminal use — such as requiring a permit to purchase guns in the city, or limiting the number of guns a person could buy in the city limits within a certain time frame.

But Justice P. Kevin Brobson, writing for the court, said it was “wholly insufficient” to argue that an individual’s rights were tied to a municipality’s ability to pass local laws. And he said the city had failed to prove its assertion that the General Assembly was guilty of “state created danger” because a variety of factors beyond policy decisions contribute to gun violence.

Ava Schwemler, spokesperson for the city’s Law Department, said in a statement that the ruling “means that Philadelphia will continue to be bound by the terms of the [state’s] preemption laws, which block the city from enacting many common-sense regulations of firearms that are proven to reduce gun violence and save lives. While we are disappointed with this result, the Parker administration will continue to seek remedies to Philadelphia’s deadly gun violence crisis through every legal tool in the toolbox at our disposal.”

Adam Garber, executive director of the gun violence prevention advocacy group CeaseFire PA — which joined the city in its suit — said in a statement that the decision leaves “local governments handcuffed” and prevents them from addressing the leading cause of death among Black men and youth in the state.

But Garber said his organization is hopeful about the prospect of success for other ongoing firearm lawsuits, including Philadelphia’s effort to enforce reporting of lost or stolen guns. Based on the court’s decision, he also urged the General Assembly — made up of the GOP-controlled Senate and a narrow Democratic majority in the House — to take action “before more lives are lost.”

One thing has changed significantly since the city filed its suit in 2020: Philadelphia’s rate of gun violence has been cut nearly in half.

More than 430 people had been killed in homicides through Nov. 20, 2020, police statistics show, the vast majority by gun.

This year, through the same date, the statistics show, 228 people have been slain.