Posted on 06/24/2013 12:09:59 PM PDT by marktwain
“First, our constitution…says that the right of people to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned,” said Cook. ”The preemption clause in our state law…says that local towns like Erie can’t make other laws concerning firearms.”
Cook was one of about 80 who showed up to support “Open Carry Pennsylvania.” Erie police estimated there were 15 to 20 people carrying firearms in the crowd, and they issued citations to some of them, noted the Erie Times-News.
Rally organizers tried to get an injunction against the city ordinance, but failed.
More from the Erie Times-News:
Those at the rally carrying guns, both handguns and semiautomatic rifles, are subject to a fine of between $100 and $300 and up to 90 days in prison if they fail to pay the fines.Police walked around the crowd and noted license plate numbers of parked cars in an attempt to identify people carrying weapons. They said they would mail citations to people carrying weapons who were successfully identified.
“They’ve been going around writing down everyone’s license plate number…” said attorney Joshua Prince, a lawyer for Justin Dillon, the founder of Open Carry PA. “They said they’re going to be querying the JNet [Justice Network] system to basically try and do facial recognition…and then proceed from there in issuing citations.”
The city of Allentown paid over $20,000 to a person who was harassed recently. Look for similar measures here as PA has preemption laws.
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Get a rental car next time.
They have a similar law passed in Pittsburgh violating the pre-emption law concerning reporting your lost or stolen firearm within 72 hours to the police. It was taken to court, but the judge would not rule on it due to no one yet being charged with the law. A citation sent out seems to be grounds to challenge this gun law in Erie. If someone wants to take it to court, the law should be easily overturned due to the pre-emption law that says local governments here in Pa cannot make gun laws. Only the state can.
A group of open carry guys were harassed in Dickson City PA a few years back and sued the city’s ass off. A Preemption Bill is in the legislature at this moment which would stop this crap.The local LEO’S didn’t even know you can open carry in PA!
Accepted in House Committee
The newest one.
Yep. All over PA these local gun bans in parks are being invalidated. I don’t really see how Erie’s will stand.
Maybe we should watch what they do, not what they say.
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