Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has angered gun rights advocates. That’s not that big of a deal, in and of itself. I mean, he’s the mayor of a large urban center. It’s unlikely that he really needs to worry about gun rights activists all that much most of the time.

But he may want to start rethinking that idea.

After all, they’re trying to impeach him from office, and even some who disagree with the gun rights crowd may side with them on this effort.

Some gun rights advocates are now trying to push Pittsburgh’s mayor out of office and possibly have him criminally charged over his gun control plans.

Republican ward Chair Brooke Nadonley, of Mt. Washington, and Val Finnell, of Firearms Owners Against Crime, made the rounds Monday at the Allegheny County Courthouse, trying to file a petition to impeach Bill Peduto.

“One of the grounds of his malfeasance, which would be the attempt to manipulate and change Pennsylvania gun laws,” Nadonley said.

Impeachment is a long shot, and likely won’t get any traction, but it appears likely that some of the advocates will file private criminal complaints against the mayor and City Council.

…

As for impeachment proceedings, they were told they needed to file a motion along with the petition of signatures.

The mayor’s spokesman called it a joke and waste of time, saying “…some opponents of the city’s proposed reforms would rather make goofy attempts to harass elected officials than actually engage in constructive debate on how to prevent the gun massacres.”

However, the issue here isn’t so much about guns as it is the rule of law.

You see, Peduto is hoisting the middle finger to Pennsylvania’s preemption law. He’s defying the law so he can do whatever he wants–still not getting the irony that he’s ignoring the law in order to pass a law that many will ignore–and that will upset a lot of people who may not give a damn about guns one way or another.

Then what does Peduto do? He doubles down on his defiance by calling it “goofy.”

The truth is, Mayor Peduto, no one needs to engage you on the debate for one simple reason. You and your city council lack the blasted authority to regulate guns, as per state law you authoritarian jackwagon. There’s no debate to be had at the local level because it’s not legal for you to regulate guns at the local level.

Frankly, it’s imperative that if he continues along these lines that he face the repercussions of his actions. That includes being removed from office.

Unfortunately, though, it’s unlikely this will happen in this way. A previous attempt to impeach a mayor was tossed out by a judge who claimed only the state could impeach.

Instead, it’s far better to focus on the criminal complaints for breaking state law. Once those are in place, it may be easier to push for impeachment. After all, he’s a criminal at that point.

Right now, all Peduto has done is talk. Talk is legal, even if it’s stupid talk.

Once he crosses that line, though, he needs to be nailed.