Panhandling is on the rise in Pittsburgh because the underlying causes of poverty and homelessness are on the rise here. You don't have to be a social worker to see evidence mounting on every Downtown street corner that the proverbial rising tide that lifts all boats has receded far from view.

The Murphy administration recently introduced an ordinance severely restricting panhandling near food vendors, sidewalk cafes, bank machines, bus stops and lines for ticket events.

By restricting begging to designated hours -- between 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. during daylight-saving time, and between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. during standard time -- Mayor Tom Murphy believes the population of tattered humanity currently swelling sidewalks Downtown will begin to shrink to a manageable size.

Downtown property owners and store merchants leaned on Mayor Murphy to do something to stem the tide of aggressive panhandlers. Unfortunately, Mayor Murphy's ordinance is short-sighted. It presupposes a population of panhandlers who can tell time well enough to respect the personal space of others between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

It also assumes that most law-abiding citizens wouldn't mind a partial diminution of their civil liberties to have streets and corners free of panhandlers. That's an awfully big assumption, even for hard-hearted times like these.

City Council will vote on the ordinance soon, but we urge a thoughtful discussion of all issues related to any limitation on free speech in Pittsburgh.

Council shouldn't rush to rubber-stamp legislation that would penalize the poor or the law-abiding. There are ways to balance the rights of citizens and panhandlers without diminishing anyone in the process.

Of course, threatening or aggressive behavior shouldn't be tolerated, but it makes more sense to enforce rules currently on the books rather than create new rules for an old problem.