But the court said there was no action the city could take that would not be considered as an ordinance or resolution, given the authority it grants to the city Transit and Parking Commission, which created the rule.

“Consequently, if a statute removes the authority of a municipality’s governing body to adopt an ordinance or resolution on a particular subject, the governing body loses all legislative authority on that subject,” Kelly wrote. “Thus, the plain meaning of the Local Regulation Statute is that the Legislature withdrew from the city’s governing body all authority to legislate on the subjects it identifies.”

The only exception would be if the rule were no more stringent than the state law which regulates possession of guns or knives.

“Because a municipality cannot delegate what it does not have, the city is entirely powerless to authorize any of its sub-units to legislate on the subject,” Kelly wrote.

In her dissent, Bradley wrote that the issue was one of statutory interpretation, one that she believes both Dane County Circuit Judge Ellen Berz and the state 4th District Court of Appeals got right. Both found that the Metro policy barring weapons aboard buses was not an ordinance or a resolution.