[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Chadds Ford (formerly Township of Birmingham) 11-6-1963 by Ord. No.
16. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 89.
This chapter shall be known and cited as “Chadds
Ford Township Firearms Safety Ordinance of 1963.”
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any rifle, gun, pistol, revolver, automatic, musket, or shot
gun, when used to discharge less than nine pellets of any kind, regardless
of the propulsive power, whether gun powder, compressed air, gas or
springs or any combination of said mechanism. A shotgun when used
to discharge nine pellets or more is not included within this definition.
A.
No person shall, except as provided herein, fire or
discharge a firearm or similar weapon, as hereinbefore defined, within
the Township of Chadds Ford unless the user thereof has first given
his name, address, and if the request is for permission to hunt, his
hunting license number, to the owner or the lessee in possession of
the premises where he intends to shoot and has obtained the written
consent of such owner or lessee, as the case may be, on the form provided
by the Supervisors of the Township of Chadds Ford. Prior to hunting
or discharging a firearm or similar weapon on such property, duplicate
signed copies of said consent shall be filed with the Township Secretary
either in person or by mail. No registration with the Township or
filing fee shall be required. The consent of the owner or lessee shall
continue in effect until the end of the current hunting season or
year in which the consent is obtained, as will be specified on said
written consent, unless prior thereto the owner or lessee in possession
of the land shall revoke such consent in writing. In granting such
consent, the owner or lessee may stipulate the type of firearm or
similar weapon or use for which consent is granted.
B.
This section shall not apply to the use of firearms
or similar weapons in necessary defense of person or property; nor
to the use of a firearm or similar weapon on such property as is owned
or lawfully resided upon by said user; nor to the use of a firearm
or similar weapon on an approved target range under adult supervision;
nor to the use of a rifle or pistol cartridge of a size not greater
than .22 caliber short in destroying trapped or treed animals such
as muskrat or raccoon.
The Secretary of the Board of Supervisors is
hereby authorized to issue permits for the use of firearms in target
practice only to individual adult citizens of Chadds Ford Township,
after the inspection and approval of the target range by the Supervisors
of Chadds Ford Township. Such target range shall have a natural earth
backstop or a backstop of the type and kind approved by the National
Rifle Association. Such permits shall be good for a period of one
year and the initial fee for such permits, and for each renewal of
said permits thereafter, shall be as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors.
[Amended 12-29-1986 by Ord. No. 16A]
A.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of
this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought
before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of
Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default
of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that
such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated
shall also constitute a separate offense.[1]
B.
Any Township constable or any police officer duly
authorized to enforce the law within the Township of Chadds Ford is
hereby authorized to seize, remove and destroy any firearm or similar
weapon which is used in violation of any of the provisions of this
chapter.
