Rural Pennsylvania blocks efforts by Philadelphia to limit handgun puchases, reduce murders

In 2006, Philadelphia averaged "one gunshot murder a day," and local officials wanted to limit handgun purchases to one per month and require reporting of lost or stolen guns, reports Emma Schwartz of U.S. News and World Report. But Pennsylvania "is among a majority of states that forbid cities to pass gun laws stricter than those enacted by the state," and rural legislators have blocked efforts to repeal or weaken the law.

"Undeterred, Philadelphia passed laws in May targeting handguns and illegal purchases. The city can't implement them, of course. So the council has filed a lawsuit to challenge the pre-emption law. Even if they fail again, council members say they hope a court case will change legislators' minds," Schwartz writes. She also notes that some Pennsylvania school districts "mark the opening of hunting season with a holiday," and the state constitution "explicitly gives citizens a right to defend themselves."

"Guns aren't the problem," Rocco Ali, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, told Schwartz. "The problem is the criminal element." Schwartz says Pennsylvania is "a largely rural state" but that's true only of its landscape; its population is 21 percent rural. (Read more)