NRA strikes back: A bill to shoot down local gun measures moves
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Evidence that the state Legislature is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Rifle Association comes in many forms. The latest is House Bill 1523, which is bad in many ways.
A rare setback for the NRA in this state has been the passage of municipal laws on lost or stolen handguns. Law enforcement groups favor such laws as a way to combat so-called "straw purchases," in which criminals barred from buying guns get them from third parties who will say they are lost or stolen if police subsequently find the guns were used in committing a crime.
State law reserves for itself the right to regulate firearms, but "lost or stolen" laws don't deprive people of their right to own a gun. The laws merely insist that a missing gun be reported within a reasonable time of the owner learning it has gone -- a responsibility that an owner should meet anyway.
As a testament to the value of such laws to local officials, 30 municipalities including Pittsburgh have passed such measures and 18 more have urged the state to pass legislation. Unable to countenance any reasonable provision on guns, the NRA sued and, surprisingly, lost. The state Supreme Court ruled that the NRA did not have standing to bring suit.
HB 1523 now comes to the rescue of the NRA while dealing a body blow to local control. The bill takes two shots at local lost-or-stolen ordinances.
First, it threatens municipalities that have passed a law -- that is, regulating "the otherwise lawful ownership, possession, storage ... " of firearms or ammunition -- with lawsuits that can be brought by any person "adversely affected." A successful plaintiff may be paid triple damages and attorney fees; the municipality may have to pay a civil penalty up to $5,000.
Second, who can bring a lawsuit on behalf of a person adversely affected? Why, a membership organization "dedicated in whole or in part to protecting the legal, civil or constitutional rights of its membership." Any resemblance to the NRA is purely intentional.
The bill, which has Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, as its prime sponsor, sailed though the House Judiciary Committee on the very day that most attention was focused on Gov. Tom Corbett's budget release. The state House is poised to pass it. Will any legislators stand up to this favor being done for the NRA?
First Published February 14, 2012 12:00 am
