YORK, Penn. — Local Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies use a variety of firearms, but the one gun you’ll never find in their arsenal is a radar gun.

“I can have a machine gun but I can’t have a radar gun?” said James Boddington, Southern Regional police chief in York, Penn. “That’s like a brain surgeon using a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. It’s a total insult.”

Pennsylvania is the only state in the continental U.S. that prohibits local police from using radar guns.

Boddington said he often gets complaints from residents about cars speeding through their neighborhoods. People typically are surprised to learn his officers can’t use radar to catch speeding motorists.

Instead, Boddington’s department uses methods that include painting two white lines on a road and using a stopwatch-type device and mathematical formula to determine the speed of a motor vehicle.

Timing devices don’t work well in bad weather or darkness, take a long time to set up and put officers at risk for getting hit by a car, he said.

Boddington said he spends $1,000 per year maintaining equipment his department uses to catch speeders.

Radar guns would allow local police to stop more speeders, which could lead to catching drunken drivers, drug users and people without car insurance, he said.

The outdated law needs to be changed, Boddington said.

“I think of how many lives could have been saved over the years,” he said. “Speed is a major factor in almost all those deaths.”

Bryan J. Rizzo, chief of the Northeastern Regional Police in York, also agreed that radar should be available to local police departments.

“There is no logical reason why we should not have the authority to use radar and laser,” he said via email.

Rizzo’s department uses non-radar timing devices including ENRADD and V-SPEC to calculate a vehicle’s speed, he said.

“Unfortunately these devices need a longer sight distance than radar and laser, and limit the areas we can use them,” he said. “One of our most frequent complaints from citizens is speeding, but unfortunately many areas … are not ideal for using the speed timing equipment we have.”

Lower Windsor Township, Penn., Police Chief Tim Caldwell is also a proponent of radar for local police.

“The current devices we have have to be recalibrated every 60 days,” he said adding the practice costs his department a couple thousand dollars a year.

“I don’t see, to be perfectly honest with you, what the holdup is,” he said adding because the law has been in place for such a long time, he doubts it will change any time soon.

State Rep. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe County, is hopeful the law will change.

In January, he reintroduced the latest version of a proposal — to allow local police in the state to use radar — now known as House Bill 38.

“I’ve introduced this bill now for three sessions,” said Scavello, former mayor of Mount Pocono and former chairman of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.

He plans to invite members of the House Committee on Transportation to Monroe County this summer for a demonstration by police of methods used to determine speed of drivers. He’ll also collect testimony from local cops on the need for radar, he said.

Legislators previously were concerned local police departments would abuse the use of radar and use the tool to generate more revenue for their municipalities from speeding tickets, Scavello said. A stipulation was added to the bill that should alleviate those worries.

Scavello said radar is less expensive to use and maintain than older devices and would reduce pedestrian deaths that result from speeding cars.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “It’s something I’ll continue to work on.”

Despite the local restriction, Pennsylvania State Police are allowed to use radar, where it serves as their primary tool to monitor vehicle speeds.

“It is a device that is easy for our troopers to use,” said Robert Hicks, public information officer, via email.

Hicks said the state police would not comment on whether local police should be allowed to use radar.

“We will not weigh in on this bill yet because we have not done a full analysis of it,” he said.