[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was originally designated as Title 6, Art. XI, Ch. 1106, but was renumbered in order to maintain the format of the Code.
[Ord. No. 16-2019, § 1, eff. 4-9-2019]
A. 
Applicable definitions set forth in Sections 695.01, 696.01 and 697.01 shall also apply in this Chapter 698.
[Ord. No. 16-2019, § 1, eff. 4-9-2019]
A. 
A firearm's custodian shall be in violation of this Section if:
1. 
A minor gains access to and uses the firearm; and
2. 
The firearm's custodian knew or reasonably should have known that a minor was likely to gain access to the firearm.
B. 
For purposes of this Section, "use" of a firearm does not include possession, ownership, transportation or transfer. "Use" of a firearm shall include, but is not limited to:
1. 
Discharging or attempting to discharge the firearm;
2. 
Loading the firearm with ammunition;
3. 
Brandishing the firearm;
4. 
Pointing the firearm at any person; and
5. 
Employing the firearm for any purpose prohibited by the laws of Pennsylvania or of the United States.
C. 
The provisions of this Section shall not apply if:
1. 
The minor gains access to the firearm as the result of an illegal entry to any premises by any person;
2. 
The firearm is stored in a locked box, locked gun safe, or other secure, locked space, or is secured with a trigger lock or other similar device that is properly engaged so as to render the firearm inoperable by any person other than the firearm's custodian or other lawfully authorized user;
3. 
The firearm is carried on the person of the firearm's custodian or within close enough proximity thereto that the firearm's custodian can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person; or
4. 
The minor uses the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person.
5. 
The minor was lawfully given authorization to use the firearm by the minor's parent or legal guardian.
D. 
For purposes of this Section, "firearm's custodian" means the person who exercises custody or control over the firearm.
E. 
For purposes of this Section, "minor" means a person under eighteen (18) years of age.
F. 
For purposes of this Section, the term "brandishing" means, with respect to a firearm, to display all or part of the firearm, or otherwise make the presence of the firearm known to another person, in order to intimidate that person, regardless of whether the firearm is directly visible to that person.
[Ord. No. 16-2019, § 1, eff. 4-9-2019]
A. 
Any person found in violation of this Chapter 698 shall be fined up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) and costs for each offense.
[Ord. No. 16-2019, § 1, eff. 4-9-2019]
A. 
This Chapter 698 shall not be interpreted so as to exempt any person from requirements codified elsewhere in Article XI.
[Ord. No. 16-2019, § 1, eff. 4-9-2019]
A. 
This Chapter 698 shall take effect sixty (60) days after its enactment.
[Ord. No. 16-2019, § 1, eff. 4-9-2019]
A. 
Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions of this Article XI: Weapons. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Article XI: Weapons is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Chapter or this Article XI: Weapons, nor shall any finding that this Chapter or any portion thereof is invalid or unconstitutional affect the validity of any other chapter that is a part of this Article XI: Weapons.
[Ord. No. 16-2019, § 1, eff. 4-9-2019]
A. 
For the purposes of this Chapter, the City Council does hereby find that:
1. 
The first duty of the governments of the City of Pittsburgh and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is to protect their people; and
2. 
Gun violence and gun suicides present a public health and public safety crisis in the United States; and
3. 
From 2013 to 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the average number of firearm deaths for all ages was 36,383 per year, and the average number of firearm deaths for persons under eighteen (18) years old was one thousand four hundred ninety-nine (1,499) per year; and
4. 
From 2013 to 2017, 7,517 Pennsylvania residents died from a firearm injury, including three hundred one (301) children under the age of eighteen (18); and
5. 
From 2013 to 2017, a child or teen under the age of eighteen (18) was killed by gunfire in Pennsylvania every six (6) days, on average; and
6. 
Law enforcement agencies in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have partnered with the National Shooting Sports Foundation to distribute free gun locks to Pittsburgh residents through Project ChildSafe; and
7. 
A February 2018 Politico/Morning Consult poll found that seventy-six (76) percent of registered voters across America supported requiring that all gun owners store their guns in a safe storage unit; and
8. 
Every year in the United States, on average, more than two hundred fifty (250) children under eighteen (18) gain access to a gun and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else, and nearly six hundred (600) more die by suicide performed with a gun; and
9. 
Storing household guns locked, unloaded, or separate from the ammunition is associated with reductions in the risk of self-inflicted shootings among, and unintentional shootings by, children and teenagers; and
10. 
An estimated 4.6 million American children and teens under eighteen (18) still live in homes with at least one (1) gun that is loaded and unlocked despite the lifesaving effect that responsible gun storage can have; and
11. 
Available evidence, as compiled by the RAND Corporation, indicates that child access prevention laws or safe storage laws reduce self-inflicted fatal or nonfatal firearm injuries among youth and reduce unintentional firearm injuries or unintentional firearm deaths among children; and
12. 
Over twenty-two thousand (22,000) Americans every year, including over one thousand (1,000) children and teens, die by firearm suicide; and
13. 
A meta-analysis of fourteen (14) different scientific studies concluded that access to a firearm triples the risk of death by suicide of anyone in the household; and
14. 
Among commonly used methods of self-harm, firearms are by far the most lethal, with a fatality rate of approximately eighty-five (85) percent, compared to less than five (5) percent with other methods, such that while firearms are used in less than six (6) percent of suicide attempts, over half of suicide deaths result from suicide attempts performed with firearms; and
15. 
The City Council recognizes that 18 Pa. C.S. § 6120(a) and 53 Pa. C.S. § 2962(g) restrict municipal regulation of ownership, possession, transfer, and transportation of firearms, ammunition, and ammunition components; and
16. 
The City Council also recognizes its responsibility to respect governing law, and thus may not impose a prohibition on ownership, possession, transfer, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, and ammunition components unless and until governing law allows it to become effective; and
17. 
The United States Supreme Court has recognized that the right protected by the Second Amendment is not absolute. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has recognized likewise with regard to Article I, section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution; and
18. 
The City Council has authority to legislate regarding the use of firearms, as distinguished from their ownership, possession, transfer, or transportation, in order to protect members of the public.