Nutter Blasts Pa. Lawmakers For Roadblocking City Gun Control Efforts
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter and other local elected officials from around Pennsylvania went to Harrisburg today to voice their opposition to state legislation that would undermine efforts by local governments to enact their own gun control laws.
Mayor Nutter says the proposed legislation would make it easier to sue cities like Philadelphia for enacting laws such as one that requires reporting of lost and stolen guns. He says the legislation, which would also require local governments to pay plaintiffs who win, could bankrupt cities.
"A complete waste of taxpayer dollars and municipal efforts, having to defend ourselves when we're trying to defend the public," he said today.
But state representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler County), sponsor of the House version of the legislation, says it just puts teeth into the state's already existing primacy over local laws.
"It's already illegal for local municipal officials to pass their own gun control measures," he tells KYW Newsradio.
A spokesman for leaders of the Republican-controlled House say there's no timetable for the House bill to get a vote.
