Wilkinsburg residents will face fines and possible imprisonment for failure to report their lost and stolen handguns once a new ordinance takes effect in the borough.

Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve an ordinance requiring residents who own guns to report lost or stolen handguns within 24 hours of their disappearance. The ordinance will go into effect 10 days after it is signed by Mayor John Thompson, who said he expects to sign it this week.

Penalties for failure to report missing handguns are up to $500, court costs and mandatory gun safety training for first offenses, and up to $1,000 per violation plus court costs, or up to 30 days imprisonment, for additional offenses. Anyone who fails to pay the fines will face up to 30 days in jail.

Wilkinsburg joins six other communities in the state -- Allentown, Pottsville, Reading, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh -- in passing laws to report lost and stolen handguns. The National Rifle Association has sued Philadelphia and Pittsburgh over their ordinances, claiming they violate the state's Uniform Firearm Act, which prohibits entities other than the state from regulating firearms.

NRA spokesman John Hohnwarter said the ordinance is a blatant violation of state law that will eventually drain taxpayer dollars through litigations. He did not say if the organization planned to sue Wilkinsburg, but said litigation is "always a consideration" in these situations.

"What you're seeing is nothing more than made-for-TV lawmaking that is going to make the taxpayers pay," he said.

Wilkinsburg Councilwoman Vanessa McCarthy-Johnson said the borough, with the help of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, is prepared to defend any actions brought against them.

"We're ready for them if they want to go after poor little Wilkinsburg," she said.