Everytown for Gun Safety’s Litigation Team Will Defend the City of Pittsburgh in Any Litigation Resulting From Its Passage of Gun Violence Prevention Measures

PITTSBURGH – Everytown for Gun Safety announced today that Everytown Law will serve as co-counsel with the Pittsburgh City Solicitor’s Office in defending the City of Pittsburgh in any litigation resulting from the city’s passage of gun safety measures. Everytown Law is the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund.

“Everytown is proud to stand with the City of Pittsburgh as it acts to prevent future gun violence after the horrific massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue,”said Eric Tirschwell, litigation director for Everytown for Gun Safety. “We welcome the opportunity to provide our pro bono legal services and expertise to defend the City if and when any lawsuits are filed.”
The ordinances signed today include:

• A prohibition relating to the use of assault weapons, certain ammunition and firearm accessories and large capacity magazines;
• A call on the state legislature to more broadly prohibit assault weapons and large capacity magazines, and a local ordinance intended to do the same, but which would become effective only if and after an action by the state legislature or state supreme court permitted cities to enact their own such ordinances;
• A Red Flag law which provides a judicial framework for families and law enforcement officers to petition for a court-issued Extreme Risk Protection Order, which temporarily restricts a person’s access to firearms when they pose a significant risk of harming themselves or others;
• A Child Access Prevention law which creates a civil penalty if a minor gains access to and uses a firearm, and the firearm’s custodian knew or reasonably should have known that a minor was likely to gain access to the Firearm.

The city also passed a resolution to establish the STOP the Violence Initiative, which aims to reduce both police officer-related violence and proximity-related violence in the City of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh joins a number of cities taking local legislative and judicial action to advance gun safety in their communities, even in the face of state preemption laws, including Seattle, WA, Missoula, MT, and over 30 cities and counties in Florida. Everytown Law is proud to represent a number of these cities and to defend their actions in court.