Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Lancaster plans to soon respond to the National Rifle Association's lawsuit against it after a judge refused to stay, or postpone, the suit until a related case is resolved.
City officials hope to win a lawsuit against state legislative leaders over the process used to make a recent state law enabling gun rights groups to sue municipalities over local gun laws.
Winning that case would make the NRA's suit over Lancaster's 2009 ordinance requiring residents to tell police if a gun they own is lost or stolen within 72 hours moot, because guns rights groups wouldn't have legal standing to sue.
Arguments in the state case are scheduled for April 13 in Commonwealth Court.
In a Lancaster Court of Common Pleas filing on Friday seeking a delay, the city said having to defend its law while the state suit plays out would be a waste of public funds.
However, a county judge denied request, Mayor Rick Gray said Monday. The city expects to file its response within a few days, he said.
The NRA claims the city's ordinance violates a state law that says local governments can’t regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of guns.
Gray has maintained Lancaster’s law doesn’t violate state law because it does not regulate ownership, possession, transfer or transportation, but instead requires people notify police when a gun is lost or stolen.
The city's ordinance was designed to take away alibis for people who buy guns and sell them to people who can't legal own them — so-called straw purchases. Opponents contend the law infringes upon gun owners' rights.