Quote:PITTSBURGH —
Just days away from a public hearing on Pittsburgh's controversial gun legislation proposal, Mayor Bill Peduto is engaged in an intensifying public back-and-forth with Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala.
SCROLL DOWN FOR A TRANSCRIPT OF THE LATEST COMMENTS. Tap the video player above to watch the video.

It started with a Jan. 9 letter in which Zappala told City Councilman Corey O'Connor that Pittsburgh does not have authority to pass the gun legislation, which Zappala said must be handled at the state level instead.
Zappala's letter also raised the question of whether a criminal complaint could be filed against a council member:
"I am certain that you have sought the legal advice of your Law Department as to whether 18 Pa.C.S. §6119 would permit a criminal complaint to be filed against an individual member of Council who violates 18 Pa.C.S. §6120 by voting to adopt these types of regulations. ... I am also certain that you realize that if such legislation passes, there is sure to be a resident of Allegheny County who seeks to file a private criminal complaint alleging a violation of §6120. Those are matters which will confront my office, should the legislation be enacted."
Zappala clarified his stance in a Jan. 15 interview with Pittsburgh's Action News 4: "I think they're acting, ostensibly, on behalf of the people of the city of Pittsburgh, and that's who they were elected to represent. It's just, they don't have the ability to do this. They should get the votes in Harrisburg, if they can, and that's where the action has to take place."
That same day, Peduto responded with a jab at Zappala: "If he wants to be city solicitor, he has to move into the city and apply, and I'd consider his resume. Otherwise, he should be a district attorney."
On Tuesday, the situation rose to another level with stronger remarks being issued by Peduto, who apparently interpreted parts of Zappala's letter as referring to the possibility that a council member could be arrested.
Below is a transcript of Peduto's latest comments.

• "There is no concern. We don't go to the district attorney for legal interpretation. That's why we have a city solicitor. This is uncommon for a district attorney to weigh in on a legislative matter of City Council. I could see it with county council, where he is part of the government, but I don't think he has ever done that as well.
  
• "Why he wants to threaten council members with the potential of arrest if they would vote for gun reform is beyond me. I have no idea. It doesn't even make sense politically, what he's doing.
  
• "Anybody who would threaten a legislator of any body, City Council, state Rep., Congress member, that you will be arrested if you don't vote a certain way -- what country do we live in?
  
• "Arrest me. You know what? I welcome him trying to put up a lawsuit that would arrest me if I sign this legislation. I would welcome that. It would be unprecedented. And simply because he doesn't support gun reform or is somehow convinced that the gun lobby is so important to his election that he would threaten to arrest legislators that would support gun reform is astounding.
  
• "If this broke nationally, it would be one of the biggest stories in this country -- that a district attorney is threatening City Council members that he has no authority over to be arrested if they pass gun reform.
  
• "Absolutely, I was offended as an American citizen. You know his question on constitutionality? He should be looking at the Constitution. To even think that legislators could somehow be arrested for voting -- that is basically what he is saying, and it is absolutely astounding to me."
  
• "Now, the other part of this is the concern that he has that the city does not have the legal right to do be able to this. Now, that is a valid question. You don't get arrested for doing something like that.
  
• "Every single law that has made a change in this country came about by local government challenging the justice of that law. If we didn't challenge the justice, women would never be able to vote. There would be people in this country who would be considered a percentage, because that's what the Constitution said they were, but we challenged it, we took it to court and we found justice. And for the district attorney to say that you can't challenge laws, and if you do challenge a law, I'll have to arrest you? Unheard of in America.
  
• "I'm confident that we have a decent case to make that will not only ultimately be able to uphold what we're trying to do, but also change the discussions in Harrisburg and Washington.
  
• "This week is the U.S. Conference of Mayors. I just confirmed, and I'll be meeting with the mayors of Parkland, Las Vegas and Orlando. I'll be speaking before two different committees on a national basis about the importance of what Pittsburgh is doing, and why other cities need to join in as well.
  
• "And I do believe that Pittsburgh has a responsibility -- after what happened on Oct. 27 (the Tree of Life mass shooting), and what happens every month in this city -- to be able to lessen gun violence, and part of that deals directly with guns."
  

In response to Peduto's latest comments, Zappala spokesman Mike Manko issued the following statement Tuesday:
"The statements from the city do not accurately reflect the content of the letter that the district attorney communicated to council. The letter has no relation to politics or policy. It is about process and legality.
"That said, this is not the first time that District Attorney Zappala has had to inform public officials that they were acting contrary to established law."