In overturning the District of Columbia’s right to set its own gun laws I believe the Court was wrong, but this is ultimately irrelevant to what we are trying to do here in Philadelphia.

The United States Supreme Court is very clear that there is no unlimited, absolute right for an individual to own and carry a weapon.

In its decision today it says the following:

• “…we do not read the Second Amendment to protect the right of citizens to carry arms for any sort of confrontation, just as we do not read the First Amendment to protect the right of citizens to speak for any purpose.” – page 22
• “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.” – page 54
• "The Second Amendment Right, “is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” – page 54

What the Supreme Court decision speaks to is an individual’s right to keep a weapon in their homes for lawful, self-defense purposes.

What we are seeing on the streets of Philadelphia is not self-defense – it is senseless violence and slaughter. And what we are dealing with is not lawful ownership, but rather illegal activity. We are less concerned with an individual’s right to own a legal weapon, than we are concerned with cracking down on activity that is already illegal.

The ordinances that were passed by City Council and that I signed deal with assault weapons whose purpose is to kill; keeping weapons out of the hands of those are already limited in their ability to own weapons, such as those who may do themselves or others harm and those subject to protection from abuse orders; the issue of straw purchasing, which is illegal; and the issue of reporting lost and stolen weapons which of course has nothing to do with ownership.

In limiting its opinion to the matter of self defense and in saying that the right is not absolute the Supreme Court’s decision today is an explicit statement of support for cities around this country that are creating reasonable measures to limit the ability of those who will do harm, to buy and carry weapons.