PITTSBURGH, PA –-(Ammoland.com)- Today, attorneys Joshua Prince and Adam Kraut of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., filed a new lawsuit against the City of Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto, and six City Council members over the City’s latest gun control legislation. The case, which seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent enforcement of the laws, was filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of three individuals and advocacy organizations Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Firearms Policy Foundation (FPF), the Firearms Owners Against Crime (FOAC), and Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League. The complaint can be viewed or downloaded at PittsburghCase.com.
Under state law, no “county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.” But, Prince said, the City of Pittsburgh is more concerned with passing unconstitutional and unlawful gun control than complying with the law.
“Mayor Peduto and the Pittsburgh City Council are violating numerous provisions of the Crimes Code, by seeking to impede the exercise and enjoyment of numerous rights and privileges protected by the Pennsylvania Constitution and statutory law,” said Prince. “Contrary to what the Mayor and City Council apparently believe, they are not above the law. This lawsuit seeks to protect the rights of Pittsburgh residents and visitors and restore the rule of law.”
“Peduto and his ‘gun-grabbing gang of six’ at the City Council know that they just violated the Pennsylvania Constitution and statutory law,” explained FOAC President Kim Stolfer. “These political puppets of the gun control lobby have victimized the people of Pittsburgh and burdened the taxpayers with an unconstitutional and unlawful pile of radical garbage. Our case aims to take out their trash.”
“These elected officials are knowingly and deliberately defying the laws of the Commonwealth and violating their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitutions of Pennsylvania and the United States,” observed Klint Macro, president of ACSL. “This case is the right thing to do as it seeks to hold these office holders accountable and defend the constitutional and statutory interests of the people that they are attacking by passing this legislation. Elected officials must stop assaulting the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens.”
“Pittsburgh’s mayor and city council apparently need to be reminded that constitutional structure and the rights of the people prevail over their radical policy agenda,” said Brandon Combs, president of Firearms Policy Coalition and chairman of the Foundation. “We are delighted to assist with their legal education and defend the good people of Pittsburgh against these morally corrupt politicians.”
In a separate but related action, ACSL will also file a petition for contempt of court over what they allege are violations of a 1995 settlement agreement. ACSL’s petition will request that the court fine and sanction the City of Pittsburgh, award attorney fees and costs, and hold the Mayor and Council-members severally and jointly liable for violating terms of a longstanding court order that required them to “abide by and adhere to Pennsylvania law.” The parties in that prior action stipulated that the City’s Ordinance 30 of 1994 was preempted by Article 1, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution and 18 Pa.C.S. § 6120, as it regulated the possession and transfer of what the City classified as ‘assault weapons,’ ammunition and firearm accessories. The City’s new gun control laws, ACSL says, violate that Settlement Agreement.
The coalition lawsuit is also supported by pro-Second Amendment organizations USCCA (US Concealed Carry Association) and 2AO (Second Amendment Organization).
Firearm Owners Against Crime (https://foac-pac.org) is a non-partisan, non-connected all-volunteer Political Action Committee organized to empower ‘all’ gun owners, outdoors enthusiasts and supporters of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article 1 Section 21 and 25 of the Pennsylvania Constitution with the tools and information necessary to protect freedom from transgression.
Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League (www.acslpa.org) is an organization whose mission is to, inter alia, defend and protect, by means of educating public officials and the general public, about the Constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, especially the Second Amendment and Article 1, section 21, respectively.
Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Firearms Policy Foundation (www.firearmsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPF’s mission is to defend the Constitution of the United States and the People’s rights, privileges and immunities deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition, especially the inalienable, fundamental, and individual right to keep and bear arms.