Mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey announced that beginning at 12:01 am, Thursday July 10, 2008, gun owners have 30 days to inventory and report any lost or stolen guns before the city enforces its new ordinance requiring the reporting of lost or stolen firearms within 24 hours.
“Requiring the immediate reporting of lost or stolen weapons is a critical tool in our efforts to make Philadelphia safer and we will enforce this ordinance vigorously,” said Nutter. “Today we say to all gun owners: If you cannot find your gun, call 911.”
During the 30-day moratorium, gun owners can call 911 to report a lost or stolen gun, without facing a fine, regardless of when the gun was lost or stolen.
Following the moratorium, starting August 9 at 12:01 am, gun owners will have 24 hours after the discovery of a lost or stolen firearm to file a report with police.
Under the new ordinance, individuals failing to have a report filed will be fined up to $1,900 for the first offense and either a $1,900 fine or up to 90 days in jail for subsequent offenses.
“If you exercise your legal right to own a firearm, you have the responsibility to know where it is, and to keep it safe,” Nutter said.
On April 10, Mayor Nutter signed into law five pieces of gun legislation sponsored by Councilmembers Clarke and Miller including the mandate to report lost or stolen firearms. The NRA immediately challenged all five and the Common Pleas Court upheld this ordinance as well as the ordinances preventing people who are subject to Protection of Abuse Orders and those who could do harm to themselves or others from owning guns. The City is currently drafting the necessary regulations to enable enforcement of these two.
In 2007, the city of brotherly love averaged more than one murder and four shootings a day. This site, by writer Kia Gregory, profiles the city's deadly violence, the people it threatens, and the people who fight desperately for solutions.
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