Judge blocks Philadelphia ban on assault weapons

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Philadelphia judge struck down city ordinances banning assault weapons and limiting handgun purchases on Tuesday, in a blow to the city's attempts to make gun laws separately from the state.

Pennsylvania state lawmakers, influenced by a strong rural gun lobby, have repeatedly rejected gun-control proposals from Philadelphia, one of the most violent cities in the United States.

Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas said in a brief ruling that the city should be permanently prevented from enforcing the ordinances passed unanimously by the city council in April.

The ruling made permanent a temporary injunction and came in response to a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association, which argued that only the state legislature has a right to set gun laws.

NRA attorney C. Scott Shields called the decision a "huge victory" for gun-rights advocates. "The assault weapons ban and one-gun-a-month were the meat and potatoes of these ordinances," he said.

The city is expected to appeal the decision.

Judge Greenspan denied a challenge by the NRA to three other ordinances. Those allow judges to remove guns from people declared to be a risk to themselves or others; prevent people under protection-from-abuse orders from owning guns, and require gun owners to report the loss or theft of a gun to police within 24 hours.

(Reporting by Jon Hurdle)