The [Pittsburgh] Post Gazette reports that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is fighting against a city ordinance that requires gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within 24 hours of noticing that they’re missing. Well, the lobby group wants to fight the law, along with The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. A three-judge panel is deciding who’s zooming who—I mean, who gets to appear in court on the issue. “The NRA and the four residents sued the city a year ago in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, claiming the ordinance exceeded the city’s authority. Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. threw out the suit in July, saying the residents hadn’t been harmed by the ordinance – none had been prosecuted for violating the reporting requirement, for example – and lacked standing to challenge it.” So what’s the NRA’s beef?
Ms. Jones-Rolla said the ordinance has infringed on the residents’ ownership rights in various ways, such as by implying they must inventory their weapons so they know when one is missing.
Brady Center senior attorney Daniel Vice said the ordinance has had no impact – and may never have one – on the residents. If “hypothetical” claims of harm are allowed, he said, courts would be overburdened with cases.
Hypothetically speaking.
