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Philadelphia green space: Gun ban in certain city facilities
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Jon Lovette/ Getty Images
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed an ordinance Tuesday banning guns from the city's recreational facilities, including parks, basketball courts and swimming pools.
The signing came a day after Kenney spoke at the funeral of a 41-year-old mother of three.
She was fatally wounded by bullets earlier this month outside the city recreation center where she worked.
A 14-year-old boy who actually shot another group of teenagers has since been charged with Fletcher's shooting.
It's about protecting facility workers "if some fool decides to bring a gun into a recreation center and they see it."
According to the regulation, employees of city recreation facilities can call the police as soon as they notice a gunman about to enter.
The police can then ask the person to leave and charge them with trespassing if they refuse.
The order is the city of Philadelphia's latest attempt to regulate the proliferation of guns within city limits.
Previously, this had been made more difficult by Pennsylvania state laws, which do not allow municipalities to enact or enforce their own stricter gun regulations.
According to the city's lawyers, the current approach applies to the city's domiciliary rights over its own facilities.
This distinguishes the approach from previous attempts to stem the tide of arms - all of which had been crushed in court.
A gun lobby lawyer said the ordinance was unlawful, according to the AP news agency.
Joshua Prince said he had already successfully sued in two cases against similar attempts.
562 homicides in the past year
Philadelphia suffers from escalating gun violence.
According to Mayor Kenney at the press conference, Philadelphia has already recorded its 400th homicide this year.
This is heading towards last year's value of 562 - the largest number in decades.
sol/AP
