Board splits Second Amendment vote

Erb, Webster approve gun rights resolution; Burke voices dissent

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Blair County commissioners voted 2-to-1 Tuesday for a resolution declaring the county's support for Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

Republican commissioners Bruce Erb and Amy Webster voted in favor and Democratic commissioner Laura Burke, who raised questions a week ago about the proposed resolution, voted against it.

"It's not easy to look at a piece of paper that says you are pledging to uphold a part of the Constitution and say, 'No, I'm not going to sign that,' when you know a larger portion of the community does support it," Burke said before casting her ballot. "But that is precisely what my job is when it comes to policy: to represent the minority."

Erb, who offered the resolution to address requests from local residents, said that between last week's meeting and Tuesday, he spoke with about 100 people in favor of the proposed resolution. Erb said he counted six who were opposed.

Burke came up with her own calculation based on people with whom she had contact. She said she counted 17 against the resolution and six in favor, which included those who attended last week's commissioners meeting and asked for an ordinance that would be stronger than the resolution.

Erb said the county has no authority to adopt gun laws because in Pennsylvania, that responsibility rests with the state.

Burke relied on that same conclusion to vote against the resolution.

"Taking up political issues like this threatens our productivity as a county and takes us outside the bounds of the powers granted to us by the state government," Burke said.

Webster, however, pointed out that commissioners should respond when local residents bring up issues of concern to them.

"I believe it's our duty to address issues people raise," Webster said.

As adopted, the resolution indicates the commissioners who sign it -- Erb and Webster -- express a "deep commitment" to the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.

The resolution also expresses their opposition to any law found unconstitutional under the Second Amendment and efforts to unconstitutionally restrict such rights.

When introducing the resolution a week ago, Erb acknowledged that commissioners have been asked to declare Blair County to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary County, a designation that some other counties and municipalities have embraced by adopting ordinances with fines.

Erb said Blair County's resolution is a statement of thought.

"An ordinance is not in our purview," Erb said.

Burke also offered some research behind her decision.

"I think it is important for people to understand that currently in Pennsylvania, we do not require licenses or registration prior to purchase of a firearm," she said. "We have no waiting periods. We permit open carry without a license. We do not have a child prevention law. We do not have a safe storage law. We do not mandate that gun owners report lost or stolen firearms, and we allow private sales of firearms with no background checks."

States with waiting periods, Burke told fellow commissioners, have 51 percent fewer firearm suicides. And states with secure firearm storage laws, she added, have an 85 percent lower risk of unintentional fire­arm injuries among children.

"Injuries and deaths from firearms do not have a simple cause and preventing them does not have a simple solution," she said. "A resolution or an ordinance muddying the waters, on which laws can be enforced and which ones can't, is not a part of that solution."