A Bechtelsville lawyer has threatened to sue East Greenville over a firearm discharge ordinance approved earlier this year. Joshua Prince claims he is prepared to challenge the borough's recently approved ordinance outlawing projectiles in the municipality.

            The lawyer – who argued that only the state can legally regulate matters of firearms and ammunition – threatened a civil lawsuit against the municipality and several officials if the measure is not repealed. In an Aug. 19 preemption letter, Prince asked that council inform him within 14 days of its decision. He wrote that, if they don't, he is prepared to serve them with a complaint.

          Additionally, the lawyer said he would attempt to have Mayor Stephen Wescott, members of borough council, and Police Chief Randy Morris prosecuted criminally. During a phone call Wednesday, Prince said he would send the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office a request to file charges against them.

            The lawyer admitted he was not aware of prosecutions of this type. He referenced separate incidents where the district attorneys in Lehigh and York counties "got involved" with communities attempting to pass similar legislation but provided no further details or references during the call.

            In June, council voted unanimously to approve the newly created directive. Its language describes a projectile weapon as any gun, shotgun, rifle, handgun, pistol, pellet gun, BB gun, other firearm, crossbow, bow and arrow, slingshot, or any device that propels a projectile through the use of force, according to information provided previously by Solicitor Michael Peters.

            According to Peters, the ordinance's objective is to stop people from doing dangerous things in a dense community. The solicitor worked with Morris to craft the amendment's language.

            An inquiry from a resident regarding the use of archery within the borough and/or weapons in general led to the creation of the ordinance.

            In an email received last month, Morris wrote that most municipalities "(including our neighboring department) have ordinances regarding this issue." It states that when he learned that East Greenville did not have one, he urged the council to consider creating an ordinance.

            An Aug. 15 post on a gun rights advocacy organization's website stated that Prince filed a letter, on behalf of the Firearm Owners Against Crime – Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action, to the borough, Wescott, members of the borough council, and Morris regarding the measure.

            Prince, who identified himself as chief counsel of the Firearms Industry Consulting Group, a division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C. – located at 934 E. High St., in Pottstown – describes the ordinance as "unlawful and unconstitutional."

            The posts – made by Kevin Fenchak, an associate attorney at Prince Law Offices, P.C. – describe approval of the ordinance as a criminal offense. It states that the gun rights group is prepared to file private criminal complaints with the Montgomery County District Attorney if the ordinance is not repealed.

             Criminal complaints throughout the Commonwealth are only filed by law enforcement officials in district courts. They can only be filed against individuals, according to a spokesperson from the county.

            East Greenville officials – including Peters, council President Doug Criddle and Manager Jim Fry – did not respond to an email message sent Wednesday morning.

            The five-page letter addressed to Wescott, members of council, and Morris – containing mostly legal references, legal analysis and links to newspaper articles – claims its ordinance is unlawful. He also alleges that its enactment "constitutes a criminal offense."

            Citing the Pennsylvania Criminal Code, the lawyer claims elected officials who approve this type of ordinance could face jail time. In the letter Prince references a state law describing the ratification of an ordinance as a misdemeanor of the first degree with a maximum five-year sentence.

            The post describing the organization's opposition to East Greenville's action includes a link to an Aug. 14 letter from Prince to a board of supervisors of a municipality in Monroe County. The body of the document, addressed to the Barrett Township supervisors, contains identical references. Only the introduction and final two paragraphs were changed.