LOIE
Gold Member
- May 11, 2017
- 954
- 325
- 190
On a recent thread I saw someone once again make claims that Democrats are at fault for gun violence and homicides. They also frequently say that Democratic run cities, which are majority black, are at greater fault and that they don't care about blacks but just use them to get votes.
I just read this very interesting article by The Trace (Reporting on Guns and Violence in America):
Days after 11 worshippers were gunned down by an anti-Semite wielding an AR-15 at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto urged the City Council to pass new laws regulating access to high-powered weapons. This week, Peduto followed up his plea with emails to dozens of mayors across the country urging them to do the same — even though it would probably result in lawsuits.
That’s because Pennsylvania, like 44 other states, has a “preemption” law prohibiting local governments from enacting gun regulations that are stricter than those passed by state legislatures.
This way of restricting local law-making was pioneered by tobacco companies looking to head off regulation in the 1960s and ‘70s. But in the last few decades, the National Rifle Association, through its supporters in state legislatures, has repeatedly used preemption to successfully block gun reform efforts. And the threat of lawsuits against cities that run afoul of the legislation has had a chilling effect on local lawmakers across the country, even in deep blue states like California.
What exactly is preemption?
Preemption, in the constitutional context, refers to the pecking order of legislation: Federal trumps state, and, in much of the United States, states trump municipalities when it comes to gun regulation. A typical preemption law says that the state legislature occupies “the whole field” of firearms regulation, and declares municipal ordinances, like bans on assaults weapons or mandatory reporting of stolen guns, “null and void.”
How many states have preemption statutes for firearms?
Currently 44 states preempt localities from enacting their own gun laws. That includes such gun reform strongholds as Washington State and Maryland. California has a law that preempts local governments from handling gun permitting and registration, but allows cities and towns to broadly regulate guns.
The five states that allow cities to enact their own gun laws without restriction — Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — are also the states with the lowest rates of gun death.
Some preemption laws go so far as to punish individual lawmakers for spearheading gun laws. In Arizona and Florida, local officials can be subjected to fines, and in five states — Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Mississippi — they can be personally sued and ordered to pay damages and attorneys’ fees to the winning side. In most cases, that’s the NRA or its local affiliates.
This paragraph comes from "The Second," by Carol Anderson and addresses the same issue:
“African Americans in Chicago and Washington, D.C. had faced staggering gun violence and record homicides, and responded with statues to reduce the number of firearms in their cities. But they soon ran head-long into the NRA-backed Supreme Court decisions that interpreted gun control as violating the individual’s right to bear arms. Guns would once again legally flood those cities. Similarly, state laws that banned firearms in public housing in order to provide for the security and safety of the residents have also been overturned. “
I just read this very interesting article by The Trace (Reporting on Guns and Violence in America):
Days after 11 worshippers were gunned down by an anti-Semite wielding an AR-15 at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto urged the City Council to pass new laws regulating access to high-powered weapons. This week, Peduto followed up his plea with emails to dozens of mayors across the country urging them to do the same — even though it would probably result in lawsuits.
That’s because Pennsylvania, like 44 other states, has a “preemption” law prohibiting local governments from enacting gun regulations that are stricter than those passed by state legislatures.
This way of restricting local law-making was pioneered by tobacco companies looking to head off regulation in the 1960s and ‘70s. But in the last few decades, the National Rifle Association, through its supporters in state legislatures, has repeatedly used preemption to successfully block gun reform efforts. And the threat of lawsuits against cities that run afoul of the legislation has had a chilling effect on local lawmakers across the country, even in deep blue states like California.
What exactly is preemption?
Preemption, in the constitutional context, refers to the pecking order of legislation: Federal trumps state, and, in much of the United States, states trump municipalities when it comes to gun regulation. A typical preemption law says that the state legislature occupies “the whole field” of firearms regulation, and declares municipal ordinances, like bans on assaults weapons or mandatory reporting of stolen guns, “null and void.”
How many states have preemption statutes for firearms?
Currently 44 states preempt localities from enacting their own gun laws. That includes such gun reform strongholds as Washington State and Maryland. California has a law that preempts local governments from handling gun permitting and registration, but allows cities and towns to broadly regulate guns.
The five states that allow cities to enact their own gun laws without restriction — Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — are also the states with the lowest rates of gun death.
Some preemption laws go so far as to punish individual lawmakers for spearheading gun laws. In Arizona and Florida, local officials can be subjected to fines, and in five states — Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Mississippi — they can be personally sued and ordered to pay damages and attorneys’ fees to the winning side. In most cases, that’s the NRA or its local affiliates.
This paragraph comes from "The Second," by Carol Anderson and addresses the same issue:
“African Americans in Chicago and Washington, D.C. had faced staggering gun violence and record homicides, and responded with statues to reduce the number of firearms in their cities. But they soon ran head-long into the NRA-backed Supreme Court decisions that interpreted gun control as violating the individual’s right to bear arms. Guns would once again legally flood those cities. Similarly, state laws that banned firearms in public housing in order to provide for the security and safety of the residents have also been overturned. “