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The Blair Township Board of Supervisors has now twice tabled the Firearm Discharge Ordinance.
I believe that tabling misses the mark on what needs to be done and that is for it to be rejected. It needs to be rejected because there are already enforceable laws in the PA statues which cover the exact issue that the ordinance attempts to address.
For example, the township has not adopted a murder ordinance, but murder remains an enforceable crime.
If someone is discharging firearms in a negligent and dangerous manner without regard for public safety, then I believe reckless endangerment would apply.
Additionally, where the proposed ordinance attempts to address areas that statutes may not, it does so in a very poor way and exceeds state law. For example, the proposed ordinance specifies a 200-yard distance from a property boundary for discharge, while PA Game code states a safety zone is 150 yards from an occupied structure.
This has a clear impact on hunters.
For the above reasons, this proposal is redundant, excessive, and along with 2nd Amendment arguments, this ordinance needs to be motioned for rejection.
Jacob Wible
Hollidaysburg