Philly Judge Blocks New Gun Free Zones

A Pennsylvania judge has blocked Philadelphia’s latest attempt to institute its own gun restrictions. Judge Joshua H. Roberts of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas issued a permanent injunction against Mayor Jim Kenney’s (D.) executive order banning guns from Philadelphia parks and rec facilities on Monday.

The court permanently enjoined the city against enforcing the mayor’s directive. The ruling represents another setback for the city’s repeated attempts to enact stricter gun laws than the state has imposed. For years it has run headlong into the state’s preemption law, which says localities can not pass gun restrictions beyond what the state has adopted.

It also represents another defeat for gun-control advocates who have attempted to pierce the veil of protection afforded by preemption laws across the country.