Clarke v. House of Representatives, decided today by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, so holds, reaffirming similar decisions in the past. The Pennsylvania Constitution grants cities home rule powers in matters of local, as opposed to statewide, concern. Darrell Clarke and Donna Miller, members of the Philadelphia City Council, argued that gun laws were such local matters, and the state law preempting local gun laws was thus unconstitutional. But the court reaffirmed the contrary view, citing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's earlier conclusion that

Because the ownership of firearms is constitutionally protected, its regulation is a matter of statewide concern. The constitution does not provide that the right to bear arms shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth except Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where it may be abridged at will, but that it shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth. Thus, regulation of firearms is a matter of concern in all of Pennsylvania, not merely in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the General Assembly, not city councils, is the proper forum for the imposition of such regulation.

An interesting example of how constitutional provisions do more than just directly override contrary legislation: I expect that Pennsylvania courts would interpret the constitutional provision as not itself trumping certain state regulations of guns -- but the constitutional status of the right is seen as supporting the state's decision to trump similar local regulations of guns.