{"id":2292,"date":"2021-12-06T15:34:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T20:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/?p=2292"},"modified":"2021-12-06T15:34:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T20:34:21","slug":"providing-philadelphia-with-legislative-authority-over-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/providing-philadelphia-with-legislative-authority-over-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"Providing Philadelphia with Legislative Authority Over Guns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Patrick Zancolli JD Anticipated May 2023, Law & Public Policy Scholar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last two weeks, two young men were shot and killed around the Temple University campus in North Philadelphia. The first victim was an eighteen-year old member of the North Philadelphia community<\/a>, and the second was a Temple University senior<\/a>. While these regrettable incidences of gun violence may have hit closer to home than others that have occurred this year, they must be squared within a larger backdrop. As of November 30, 2021, 226 Philadelphia youth under the age of eighteen were shooting victims.<\/a> This number increases dramatically to 659 when eighteen through twenty-two-year-olds are included. Thirty-five and 117 of these victims were fatalities, respectively. These numbers are up from the same time last year<\/a> and contribute to a level of gun violence in Philadelphia that is the highest it has been since 1990<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Temple and the City of Philadelphia are trying to curb the effects that gun violence has in the community. Temple President Dr. Jason Wingard announced<\/a> that the University will increase its Campus Police force by fifty percent, work with City leaders to expand anti-violence initiatives in North Philadelphia, and elicit feedback from the Temple community to plan for next steps. Philadelphia Police Commissioner has vowed to focus police efforts in areas of the City where gun violence is most likely to occur, while Mayor Kenney has promoted seizing illegal guns and provided $155 million for anti-violence city services<\/a>. This funding not only includes direct services, but also grants to assist community groups geared at stemming the issue. Additionally, City Council created the Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention<\/a> back in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the recent actions taken by these key Philadelphia institutions, more must be done to adequately address the impact that the City\u2019s gun violence epidemic has on its youth. Mayor Kenney has demonstrated that he is committed to taking that next step. After Philadelphia hit the 500th homicide of 2021, he made a statement<\/a> pointing the blame at Pennsylvania state legislators. He contends that Harrisburg is blocking Philadelphia from doing what it actually needs to do in order to address the staggering gun violence numbers\u2014pass laws curtailing access to guns. This is not the first time Kenney has expressed discontent with Philadelphia\u2019s inability to meaningfully diminish the presence of guns in its community. Last year, his administration sued<\/a> the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to overturn preemption, which does not permit cities to pass laws in areas that the state has sole jurisdiction over. Guns are one of these areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overturning a principle as embedded in our state constitutional law as preemption is probably unlikely. However, this does not mean that there is no other way that Philadelphia can gain jurisdiction over its gun laws. Philadelphia is governed by a Home Rule Charter<\/a>, which permits a municipality to exercise power and perform functions that are not barred by the state constitution or legislature. Unfortunately, Philadelphia\u2019s Home Rule Charter does not provide the City with an ability to pass legislation regulating sale or possession of firearms. Section 8-500 of the Home Rule Charter calls upon the Commonwealth to give it this power, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly should do just that. Democratic state legislators from Philadelphia and around the state would likely support this effort, but the reality is that both chambers of the state legislature are controlled by Republicans, who do not favor ending state preemption to allow Philadelphia to regulate the sale or possession of firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GOP-led General Assembly may not prefer for this type of change to occur, but a concerted pressure campaign could alter its stance. First and foremost, the gun violence situation in Philadelphia is dire and does not seem to be improving. Children should not die because of gun violence, and communities should not be impacted when the loss of young life occurs. Life expectancy should not be dictated by a zip code<\/a>, and it is wrong that Black Philadelphians are dying due to gun violence at disproportionate rates. In addition to the ongoing trauma that communities continue to face, there is constant talk that Philadelphia is not safe anymore<\/a>, which leads concerned people and businesses to leave, affecting the economy<\/a>. Leveraging these types of arguments could help to tip the hand of the state legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, granting Philadelphia the ability to control its gun laws could be politically favorable to Republicans in Harrisburg. The grant of this type of power to city government empowers a local government with greater autonomy, which is consistent with Republican beliefs. Additionally, working across the aisle to address an issue that so deeply affects Pennsylvanians in Philadelphia, and the surrounding counties, could resonate with voters. The General Assembly was lauded for including $30 million in the state budget<\/a> for anti-gun violence efforts after Philadelphia state legislators pushed for it. Taking this next step to provide Philadelphia with the ability to legislate on guns via its Home Rule Charter would signal that Harrisburg is serious about helping Philadelphia address the gun violence epidemic that it continues to face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patrick Zancolli JD Anticipated May 2023, Law & Public Policy Scholar In the last two weeks, two young men were shot and killed around the Temple University campus in North Philadelphia. The first victim was an eighteen-year old member of the North Philadelphia community, and the second was a Temple University senior. While these regrettable incidences of gun violence may have hit closer to home than others that have occurred this year, they must be squared within a larger backdrop. … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[67],"class_list":["post-2292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","infinite-scroll-item","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"yoast_head":"\r\nProviding Philadelphia with Legislative Authority Over Guns - Law & Public Policy Program<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/providing-philadelphia-with-legislative-authority-over-guns\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Providing Philadelphia with Legislative Authority Over Guns - Law & Public Policy Program\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Patrick Zancolli JD Anticipated May 2023, Law & Public Policy Scholar In the last two weeks, two young men were shot and killed around the Temple University campus in North Philadelphia. 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