Philly Mayor Jim Kenney: It’s harder to buy booze in Pennsylvania than it is to buy a gun

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said that as he sought to buy Prosecco from a suburban Wegmans this weekend, he watched an elderly man jump through hoops to buy eight bottles of wine — restrictions the mayor said the state legislature has been unwilling to place on the sale of firearms.

“If we control guns like we control the sale of liquor and wine, we’d be in much better shape than we are now,” Kenney said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.”

The anecdote described by Kenney was among the most colorful ways the Democratic mayor has found to slam the state legislature and the federal government for what he has repeatedly said is a failure to limit access to guns. It came at a Tuesday news conference during which Kenney grew emotional recounting the Saturday killing of Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald, who officials say was fatally shot by an 18-year-old from Bucks County.

Police have said they aren’t sure how Miles Pfeffer, who is facing murder charges, obtained the weapon used to shoot Fitzgerald, nor have they recovered it.

But Kenney said in a “gun-crazy state” with few limitations on how or when people can buy firearms, some are bound to end up in the hands of those who aren’t allowed to possess them. Under state law, the city is generally prohibited from passing its own gun restrictions, and courts have repeatedly rejected the city’s attempts to overturn the state statute.

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The mayor has frequently called on Republicans to back legislation that would expand background checks, place limits on the number of guns individuals can purchase per month, and require the reporting of lost and stolen firearms. Democrats hold a narrow majority in the state House, while Republicans control the state Senate.

GOP lawmakers, meanwhile, have repeatedly criticized city officials, particularly District Attorney Larry Krasner, whom they have accused of failing to vigorously enforce existing gun laws. Gun-rights groups have also successfully pushed back on previous attempts by Kenney to put new firearms regulations on the books; last fall, a city judge blocked an ordinance in which Kenney sought to ban guns from recreation centers and playgrounds. That order, the judge ruled, violated the state’s preemption principle, which prohibits any city or county from passing its own gun-control measures.

Kenney on Tuesday said: “There’s too many [guns] and they’re too easy to get.” He blamed gun manufacturers and dealers, who he said are “conning people” into believing that limiting access to firearms is a violation of constitutional rights.

“You can say you back the blue, but if you don’t back gun control and gun availability, you don’t back the blue,” Kenney said. “We owe it to them to do everything we can to stop this nonsense and stop this tragedy.”

The mayor briefly choked up at the start of the news conference and described the weekend as “extremely terrible.”

“While I did not have the pleasure of knowing Chris personally, his reputation speaks for itself,” Kenney said. “I’m outraged by this and every senseless act of violence.”