Ohio Supreme Court's gun control holding

Last Thursday, reminiscent of the U.S. Supreme Court’s District of Columbia v. Heller decision back in June of this year, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the City of Clyde’s ordinance banning the possession of firearms in public parks because it conflicted with a general state law permitting licensed individuals to generally carry concealed weapons. ( Summary )( Holding )

Clyde is a town of about 6,000 , about 49 miles southeast of Toledo. ( Locator )

In Jan. 2004, the Ohio General Assembly enacted ORC § 2923.126, allowing persons meeting certain qualifications and obtaining a license, carry a concealed firearm except in locations specified in that statute. That statute was amended in 2007 and again, two weeks ago, by SB 184. In June 2004, Clyde enacted its municipal ordinance prohibiting anyone within the confines of any city park from possessing a deadly weapon, expressly including “persons licensed to carry a concealed firearm pursuant to RC 2923.125.”

Suit was filed in Sandusky common pleas in August 2004, but while it was still pending, the 6th. District Court of Appeals upheld a strikingly similar ordinance in Toledo v. Beatty . Relying on the 6th. District’s ruling, the trial court in Sandusky found in favor of Clyde, reaffirming enforceability of its ordinance.

That too was appealed, but while that appeal was pending, the state enacted the new legislation , reaffirming its intent to enact a statute that would “provide uniform laws throughout the state” regulating the concealed carry of firearms and explicitly stating that Ohioans have a fundamental constitutional right to possess a firearm where such possession is not expressly prohibited by the U.S. or Ohio constitutions or by a state or federal law. Thus the appeal to the Supreme Court.