http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/8450372.html
By MARK McDONALD
[email protected] 215-854-2646
Darrell Clarke (second from right, standing) and Donna Miller (right, seated) watch their suit being processed yesterday.
DAVID MAIALETTI/Daily News
Darrell Clarke (second from right, standing) and Donna Miller (right, seated) watch their suit being processed yesterday.
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With copies of a novel lawsuit tucked under his arm, City Councilman Darrell Clarke strode into the prothonotary's office yesterday, muttering, "The rumble is on."
Only time will tell whether the lawsuit filed yesterday by Clarke and colleague Donna Miller is a feckless tilt at legal windmills or a precedent-shattering change in the state's oversight of gun-control laws.
In a nutshell, Clarke and Miller contend that the state General Assembly has created homicidal conditions on city streets by not enacting tough gun-control laws or by not getting out of the way and letting Philadelphia write its own laws.
After countless vigils in memory of shooting victims, gun task forces "that go nowhere" and anti-violence marches "to nowhere," Clarke said, "Something has to happen."
In May, Council passed seven gun-control bills sponsored by Clarke and Miller, including efforts to shut down straw purchasers, who legally buy guns and then resell them on the street. One bill limits handgun purchases to one per month; another requires that lost or stolen guns be reported within 24 hours.
Despite Mayor Street's signature on the bills, none can take effect until the General Assembly passes enabling legislation, and that hasn't happened.
Many of the bills had been on the Council calendar for years. In pushing for a Council vote on his bills, Clarke in May said the local legislation would be married to a new strategy of suing the state over what he considers its inaction on gun control. The suit asks the court to order that the local laws be enforced.
George Bochetto, one of the attorneys hired by Council to press the lawsuit, said the Legislature has "essentially neglected" its responsibility to the welfare of the citizenry and in effect engaged in a "state-created danger" through its inaction.
Asked if he was aware of any Pennsylvania case of a similar nature, Bochetto said, "This would be a case of first impression. If you look at the legal definition of a state-created danger, we meet every standard. . . . There is empirical evidence that is unmistakable to demonstrate this."
Bochetto said the suit also asks the court to reinterpret the state statute that gives the commonwealth control over gun laws to the detriment of local government.
Though he'll continue to lobby for legislative action in Harrisburg, Clarke was none too kind to the General Assembly.
"I don't understand what's wrong with these people, frankly speaking," he said. "I would hate to think that the [National Rifle Association] lobby is that strong that it would take precedence over their sworn duty to protect the citizens they represent."
Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis O'Brien, R-Philadelphia, had no comment on the lawsuit. But his spokesman, Bill Patton, said O'Brien has made a commitment to House members to continue discussions on gun-control bills "with a goal of producing bills that can pass in the current political climate." *
