Ohio SC upholds state firearm law

Ohio Supreme Court sides with gun owners, upholds Ohio's preemption law
printable page
Submitted by pete on Wed, 12/29/2010 - 11:11. Ohio Legislation Ohio Politics Guns in the News
The Ohio Supreme Court has, in a 5-2 opinion, once again ruled that Ohio's "preemption" law is valid. In a case brought by the City of Cleveland against the State of Ohio, the court held that R.C. 9.68 is valid in all respects, including, but not limited to, the mandatory attorney fee provision against any city that attempts to violate a citizen's right to self-defense.

HB347, the preemption law, became effective in March of 2007. It replaces a patchwork of varied and confusing local rules with "uniform laws throughout the state regulating the ownership, possession, purchase, other acquisition, transport, storage, carrying, sale, or other transfer of firearms, their components, and their ammunition."

The legislature recognized that, like motor vehicle laws, it makes sense for firearms laws to be uniform throughout the state. Because local laws can only carry misdemeanor penalties, and almost every crime committed with a gun is a felony under state or federal law, the local laws were almost never used to charge criminals and instead served to disarm the crime victims.

Cleveland's argument against the state law was simple: they felt the state and federal government had not gone far enough to regulate your self-defense rights, so the city should still be free to further handcuff everyone who happens to be inside city limits. Writing for the majority, Justice Stratton rejected this argument, stating "A comprehensive enactment need not regulate every aspect of disputed conduct, nor must it regulate that conduct in a particularly invasive fashion."

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray hailed this morning's ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court, which affirmed the constitutionality of Ohio's firearms statutes.

"This is an important victory for every gun owner in Ohio," Cordray said. "Before 2006, Ohioans faced a confusing patchwork of local ordinances with different restrictions on gun ownership and possession. The General Assembly stepped in, enacting a comprehensive set of rights and responsibilities for every citizen seeking to exercise his or her Second Amendment liberties. We vigorously defended that law, and today the Court upheld it."

Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, said, "Today's ruling is a victory for law-abiding Ohioans. This ruling makes clear that preemption is the law in the Buckeye State and a patchwork of gun laws is not acceptable. If Cleveland, or any other city, wants to crack down on violence, city leaders there should focus on prosecuting criminals, not enacting new gun laws that only serve to restrict law-abiding citizens."

It is particularly noteworthy, and refreshing, that Justice Lanzinger, who voted against preemption in the Clyde case, acknowledged the legal concept of stare decisis that admonishes judges to respect prior decisions, and voted to respect the prior decision where she was in the dissent. The same cannot be said of Justice Pfeifer, who once again was in a dissent that had no basis in law or fact. The other dissenting vote came from Chief Justice Eric Brown, an appointee of Gov. Ted Strickland who failed in November to win election to a full term.

This ruling also means that Buckeye Firearms Foundation's suit against Cleveland will be reactivated, and we expect immediate action on the injunction requests previously filed with the trial court. The suit seeks a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction to stop the City of Cleveland from prosecuting law-abiding gun owners under local ordinances that restrict gun ownership and concealed carry.

The lawsuit also asks the Court to declare 20 different local ordinances unconstitutional on the grounds of state preemption of firearm laws.

In Cleveland, gun ordinances have been used for political or philosophical reasons and had the effect of harassing law-abiding citizens.