Polk planners table gun rules after 2nd letter
On Sunday the Polk Township Board of Supervisors received another letter about the gun ordinance. This one implied the township is in direct violation of law from already enacted gun ordinances.
The letter, from the The Firearms Industry Consulting Group, says it will file private criminal complaints against each official involved in the proposing and enacting of the ordinance if Polk Township does not immediately repeal it.
The ordinance enacted by Polk Township prohibits the discharge of firearms on municipal park grounds.
This notice follows an initial letter from The Firearms Industry Consulting Group, received Feb. 4. The initial letter said the group would take legal action if the township continues to consider a proposal that would prohibit discharging of firearms under certain circumstances.
Township solicitor James Fareri detailed the ongoing ordinances during a planning commission meeting Wednesday.
“In essence this ordinance regulates the discharge of firearms, they do not regulate the possession, we don’t say whether you can possess it, we really say where you can shoot it off,” Fareri said.
“We have deliberated it for a while, had comments from the community, and have considered these going forward. We then received a letter from an outside outfit called The Firearms Industry Consulting Group, suggesting legal action against the township.”
Fareri suggested temporarily repealing the ordinance about municipal park grounds. “I responded with a letter that we would temporarily repeal that — by doing so we are not agreeing with what it says, we are acting out of abundance of precaution,” he said.
Fareri added, “I believe that the municipality has the power to prohibit discharge of a firearm on land that it owns. It will be a sad day when a municipality can’t say that you can’t shoot a gun in a small community park or walking trail. It’s just common sense.”
After deliberation of the ordinances and legality letters suggesting lawsuits, the Polk Township Supervisors tabled decisions until further research and legal counseling were taken into consideration.
“Out of abundance of precaution and to make sure we are doing the right thing we will differ this until our next meeting,” Fareri said.
Comments
https://www.tnonline.com/polk-township-gets-pushback-gun-ordinance
Supervisors’ Chairman Brian Ahner said, “Our goal was not to prevent anyone from owning a gun or using a gun, just to keep our residents safe.”
The ordinance proposed by Polk Township would prohibit the discharge of firearms in:
• Any residential subdivision;
• Within 150 yards of any adjacent occupied structure, camp or farm;
• On any property smaller than 1 continuous acre;
• Under any circumstance where the bullet or other fired projectile will not remain on the same property where it was discharged;
• Anywhere in the township before dawn or after dusk.
It also prohibits reckless, careless or improper use of any firearm being used for the purpose of causing damage or harm to people or their property within the township.
A firearm would include any gun, shotgun, rifle, handgun, pistol and any other device that propels a projectile through force. It does not apply to a bow and arrow, crossbow, BB gun or pellet gun.
If a person does discharge a firearm in the township, then the ordinance would give law enforcement the right to seize the weapon as evidence.