Mr. Kenney’s remarks were the latest in a growing chorus of calls from local leaders for Congress to set stricter federal gun limits, following a series of shootings in American cities including deadly rampages in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. Facing new pressure, President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress have voiced support for expanding the background check system for gun buyers, though local leaders and others are skeptical about the seriousness of that support.

Growing, too, are clashes between local officials and state lawmakers. Most states prohibit local governments from adopting nearly any gun regulation that would go beyond state law.

“They have pre-empted us totally in enforcing any type of regulation, including really simple legislation that would require someone to report a stolen or lost gun,” Mr. Kenney, a Democrat, said of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, which is dominated by Republicans.

The mounting tension among local, state and federal officials over gun laws and who should have the right to set them has not been limited to big-city leaders or those who favor gun control. In some rural counties in states like Illinois and Texas, local leaders have been adopting measures aimed at resisting limits on guns rather than tightening them. Some counties have proclaimed their communities “Second Amendment sanctuaries.” And some sheriffs in Washington State have said they would not enforce new state gun limits there.

Still, in some of the large American cities where crime and gun violence can be a daily problem, leaders said they were most frustrated by their own inability to set laws that make sense for their residents.