Ohio Legislators Take Away Rights

During a lame duck session legislators are making sure they please the gun lobby

State legislators pushed through a bill claiming to 'clear up' some of the faults of the Concealed Carry law today. Reality is HB 347 made it easier to carry loaded weapons in Ohio and took the right to govern away from the rest of us.

Most importantly following their usual mode of operation to please the gun lobby, they included in the bill a preemption of all local ordinances that regulate firearms.

Determined to have no restrictions on guns or gun owners, Ohio Senators passed HB 347 and approved overruling Ohioans that believe they have the right and are capable of governing their own communities and deciding on the best way to keep their residents safe.

There are more than 20 Ohio cities that have 80 ordinances that regulate the sales, purchase, use and safe keeping of firearms. Ohio is a mixture of many large urban areas with millions of people and many small rural communities. The needs, criminal activity and lifestyles of each are diverse.

"There are serious issues regarding the constitutionality of proposed Section 9.68 under the Home-Rule Amendment of the Ohio Constitution. Whether the Ohio courts would give this section preemptive effect is debatable and depends largely on whether the courts conclude it is a violation the Home-Rule Amendment," according to the Legal Community Against Violence attorney Laura Cutilletta.

Toby Hoover, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence said: "The people that live in each community have the right to determine their own rules. The Ohio legislators ignored Ohio's Home Rule provisions and that may be challenged in court. They chose guns over all of us again."