Reading City Council voted Monday night to repeal all sections of the City Code pertaining to firearms.
The ordinance was introduced at the January 12 meeting and was approved by a six to one vote, President Francis Acosta being the one to vote against the repeal.
The repeal is required by Pennsylvania House Bill 80-2014, which amends Title 18, the crimes and offenses section, of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes with regard to theft of firearms.
The bill was approved by the Governor in November 2014.
Council members did not agree with the repeal, but concluded that to fight the requirement would be too costly for the city and its taxpayers.
Acosta said, “I believe that this is a great example how these [pressure] groups, some of them even political, can bully municipalities like ours. And for me that’s what it is, it is a great example of bullying a city that they know is having some financial problems.” He continued, “I got phone calls from people telling me that fighting this will only cost a couple hundred thousand dollars and that it is worth the fight, but the city cannot afford it and that’s mainly why I’m going along with this.”
Councilman Christopher Daubert agreed, but also worried about the message the repeal would send.
“I do believe we are doing the responsible thing for the taxpayers and for the city, but I’m not too happy about it.”
Jeffrey Waldman, while not agreeing with the appeal, did state that he thinks this is an issue that should be dealt with on the state level.
“I believe this is a law that we should have never entertained, it’s a legislative issue," Waldman said.
The ordinance repeals the sections of the City Code pertaining to failure to report lost or stolen firearms, discharge of firearms, permits for limited discharge of firearms and violations and penalties imposed by the City for failure to adhere to any of the above.
The full City Code can be reviewed on the city’s website.
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