Gun-toting advocates rally in Lower Merion; official says it's "an armed occupation." [View all]

Several dozen gun-rights supporters descended on a Lower Merion park Sunday afternoon in a peaceful show of force protesting a local gun ordinance.

The rule does not ban legal guns from parks, but rally organizers say it is vaguely written and should be repealed. Some said it is illegal.

Demonstrators carried firearms in Bala Cynwyd Park. Gun-control advocates said earlier they would avoid the demonstration. Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian McGuire declared the rally an "armed occupation."

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The event, billed as being family-friendly, intended to draw gun-rights supporters from across the state.

Kim Stolfer, a Pittsburgh man who founded Firearms Owners Against Crime, said the Lower Merion ordinance is illegal under a Pennsylvania law that gives the state jurisdiction over all firearms regulation.

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