Philadelphia is suing Pennsylvania in order to enact stronger gun safety laws and curb the epidemic of violence troubling the city.
The City of Brotherly Love is asking a judge to invalidate a set of regulations under the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act, so it and other municipalities are free to pass their own measures aimed at curbing gun violence.
City officials chose Germantown’s Happy Hollow Recreation Center to announce the action, a location chosen “due to historical rates of gun violence in the area,” said Patricia Gillett, spokesperson for Council President Darrell Clarke.
“The simple reality is what we’re asking for from the commonwealth is completely reasonable,” Clarke said on Wednesday.
Several gun control advocacy groups are also listed as plaintiffs in the suit
The suit comes as Philadelphia reached a dark milestone of at least 366 murders this year, surpassing the number of victims for all of 2019 with nearly three months to go, a decade-long high.
Homicide is now one of the leading causes of death for Black men in Philly, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said Wednesday, adding that the city sees more deaths from gun violence than from diabetes.
