Judge strikes down Pittsburgh gun-control ordinances

An Allegheny County judge Tuesday struck down three Pittsburgh gun-control ordinances championed by Mayor Bill Peduto and several City Council members and passed in response to last year’s mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

In a five-page opinion, Allegheny County Common Pleas Senior Judge Joseph M. James found that state law bars local gun laws. His brief order, filed late Tuesday afternoon, called the city’s ordinances “void and unenforceable.”

The judge determined that the state law, the Pennslyvania Uniform Firearms Act, “regulates the entire field of firearms and ammunition across the state of Pennsylvania,” according to the opinion.

In response, Timothy McNulty, the mayor’s spokesman, said, "The city and its outside legal counsel have always expected this would be a long legal fight, and will continue to fight for the right to take common sense steps to prevent future gun violence. We will appeal.”