BY DAMIAN GESSEL
STAFF WRITER
dgessel@republicanherald.com
Published: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 4:15 AM EST
Gun owners take note: The Pottsville City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday making failure to report a stolen firearm a crime.

Under the new ordinance, gun owners have 24 hours to report a missing weapon, under penalty of a $500 fine. Second-time offenders face a $1,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

"Unfortunately, sometimes you have to pass rules to make stupid people make the right decisions," Councilman Dave Eckert, who believes the new law will act as a deterrent to illegal gun traffickers, said Monday.

Eckert said he spent a long time considering the ordinance and talking to area gun owners before deciding in its favor.
"I definitely have not taken this lightly," he said. "It's not an easy vote. A lot of gun owners are against it."

One of those in opposition is Scott Thomas, who serves on the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania. Thomas believes it's unconstitutional for Pottsville to pass any gun law.

"I'm all for keeping our police force safe, but the fact of the matter is you're making law-abiding citizens into criminals," Thomas said Monday after council rendered its decision. "If you go on vacation and your house is broken into and two years later your gun shows up in a raid, this is making you able to be prosecuted."

Pottsville isn't on an island with the ordinance. Other municipalities around the state have passed similar measures, including Philadelphia.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of mayors from Yonkers to Los Angeles that seeks stricter gun laws, has this to say on its Web site: "In most states, gun owners are not required to tell police when a gun is lost or stolen. That puts law enforcement at a disadvantage in tracking down those guns and the criminals who use them."

The site says almost 600,000 guns are stolen from private homes each year.

The National Rifle Association disagrees with the coalition's and Pottsville's position. The NRA wrote a letter last month to Pottsville Mayor John D.W. Reiley informing him of its distaste for the then-proposed ordinance…

Pottsville Police Chief Joseph H. Murton V has supported the measure, saying its not an infringement of Second Amendment rights.

In other business, the council discussed an ordinance that would make it illegal for minors to possess tobacco. It's already illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase tobacco products.

Reiley expressed frustration with state legislators for their failure to pass a similar ordinance.

"It's frustrating that municipalities have to enact an ordinance when a lot of this should come through the (state legislature)," he said.

The council will vote on the matter at next month's meeting.