OFCC & NRA Intervene in Cleveland v Ohio (Firearms Preemption)

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MeanStreaker

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From the Ohioans For Concealed Carry website:

OHIOANS FOR CONCEALED CARRY AND NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION FILE MOTION TO INTERVENE IN CLEVELAND PREEMPTION LAWSUIT

Cleveland, Ohio, May 29 /USNewswire/ -- Ohioans For Concealed Carry (OFCC) and the National Rifle Association (NRA), today filed a motion in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas seeking to intervene in City of Cleveland v. State of Ohio, in which the City of Cleveland has challenged firearms preemption enacted by the Ohio legislature to clarify and ensure uniform application of gun laws throughout the state.

A temporary restraining order, preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing its local gun laws in direct opposition to State and Federal laws was also sought from the court in Tuesday’s filing. Co-affiants who are members of either one or both organizations supported the motion to intervene as representatives of the NRA and OFCC, including city residents, Ohio residents, non-resident Ohioans, and residents of other states who travel to or through the City of Cleveland.

“Mayor Frank Jackson has thumbed his nose at the Ohio legislature’s attempt to bring uniformity and clarity to the possession, transfer, ownership, and carry of firearms by vowing to continue to enforce conflicting and vague city laws without a court order staying state law,” said Jeff Garvas, president of Ohioans For Concealed Carry. “We are asking the court to order Cleveland to stay the enforcement of its local gun laws and comply with Ohio law unless and until they succeed in their challenge to the state statute.”

“The State will defend its authority to pass preemption legislation while Cleveland will argue its authority to pass their own firearms legislation under Home Rule,” continued Garvas. “We are stepping in to represent the interests of all lawful gun owners who are or may be adversely affected by the continued enforcement of Cleveland’s conflicting ordinances.”

Since March 14th Ohio law has preempted all local municipalities from enacting firearms legislation other than zoning ordinances. Cleveland filed its lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court the same day.

CONTACT: News media seeking comments should use the Contact Us form at the bottom of OhioCCW.org and choose "Media Spokesman" from the pull down list before completing the submission form.
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A higher level political entity has a law which disallows a lower level from having a law to the contrary. I believe in this case, the State of Ohio says a county or locality may not have a law contrary to a specific State law, not necessarily all of them. The State law then "preempts" any law at lower levels of government within the State, in this case the City of Cleveland.

What Cleveland is apparently after is the same sort of large city gun laws as cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, etc., that have restrictions not found throughout the respective States.

Of particular note would be those laws which ignore a provision of the State Constitution. RKBA would certainly be one of those, but I don't know how Ohio's Constitution reads. I lived there before by gun toting days and haven't taken the time to look it up on the internet. I do know that as a visitor from SC to Lakewood, in a hotel barely a hundred yards from the Cleveland city line, it was legal for me to have my gun in the car and to take it into my hotel room. I was not able to carry concealed through. I later went into the city for a graduation ceremony at Cleveland State and had my gun in the car (legally according to State law. I wasn't parked on campus.). That was over three years ago.
 
Preemption means that a local government can not have more restrictive laws than state law.

Preemption was the very big aspect that got passed after a veto override and took effect in March of this year. It invalidated 80ish firearm laws. Specifically in Cleveland, assault weapon bans and registration laws were wiped from the books. However, Mayor Jackson of Cleveland said that he will continue to enforce his city's non-existent laws because Ohio has a "Home Rule Amendment" in its constitution. The home rule amendment was never supposed to apply to firearms laws and it specifically does not apply to "General Laws" of the state, of which preemption is.

...

In case anyone's interested, there are some legal documents attached to the original story.

Article 1, Section 4 of the Ohio Constituion says, "The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security."
 
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