There will be another gun battle in Philadelphia today.

Not the kind we are all too used to reading about, another instance of gunfire on the city streets, and perhaps another innocent life snuffed out.

This one will take place in a courtroom. It won’t involve bullets. This one is a legal battle.

Lawyers for the National Rifle Association will be in a courtroom today asking a judge to overturn gun control ordinances passed by city council, and signed by Mayor Michael Nutter, last month.

The NRA immediately went into court and got an injunction to block the measures, which would limit firearms purchases to one a month, require owners to report a lost or stolen gun, and ban the sale of assault weapons.

Among those lawyers arguing against the new laws will be our own Delaware County barrister C. Scott Shields. He’s also the mayor of Rutledge.

Shields and the NRA are clear in their opposition to these measures. They argue simply that it’s not the job of municipalities to regulate guns. That is the purview of the state Legislature.

Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham, about as hard line as it gets when it comes to gun crimes, even has indicated the NRA is right on this issue.

Nutter says he will not back down.

And for good reason. The city continues to treat the scars of losing a Philadelphia police officer to a suspect wielding a Chinese-made assault rifle.

Maybe it’s not the job of city council. That doesn’t change the city’s challenge.

Criminals are using illegal guns to run amok on city streets.

It’s time for the city – or somebody – to start firing back. Some common sense gun control would be a good start.