City of Cincinnati defiantly flaunts state law

By Jeff Riley

Regular readers of the Buckeye Firearms site are well aware of crimes occurring in the State of Ohio and local city/municipal parks year after year.

Some recent instances include the following:

In late April a man was stabbed in the face in a Toledo park at the conclusion of an evening jog. Just over a week later a woman was kidnapped from the Equestrian Center of the Lorain County Metro Parks' Carlisle Reservation, raped and shot in the back before being stuffed in the trunk of her own car. Just last week, a man released from prison just two weeks ago was charged with an attack in a Parma park.

With all the coverage in the media and in light of the change in firearms laws in March 2007 why is the City of Cincinnati openly defying State law by posting 'no guns' signs in city parks?

The City has been no friend to gun-owners, arguing against lawful concealed carry of handguns in Klein vs. Leis, and has an assault weapons law that classifies any handgun capable of holding more than 15 rounds as an assault weapon (including the City's own Police Department's S&W M&P 9mm full sized duty handgun.)

That aside, House Bill 347 became law in 2007 and in part granted the State of Ohio total pre-emption of all local firearms laws. More specifically the Ohio Revised Code Section 9.68 reads in part:

.....Except as specifically provided by the United States Constitution, Ohio Constitution, state law, or federal law, a person, without further license, permission, restriction, delay, or process, may own, *possess,* purchase,sell, transfer, transport, store, or keep any firearm, part of a firearm, its components, and its ammunition."

....(1) The possession, transporting, or carrying of firearms, their components, or their ammunition include, but are not limited to, the possession, transporting, or *carrying, openly or concealed on a person's person or concealed ready at hand, of firearms*, their components, or their ammunition.

In addition to granting the State of Ohio pre-emption regarding all firearm laws, it provides for relief and payment of court costs for the following:

(B) In addition to any other relief provided, the court shall award costs and reasonable attorney fees to any person, group, or entity that prevails in a challenge to an ordinance, rule, or regulation as being in conflict with this section.

The City was first notified soon after the law went into effect in March 2007 regarding signs posted downtown at Fountain Square Park. The signs read in part:

The following actions are prohibited except as authorized by permit or otherwise permitted by law:

Weapons or Firearms.

While the city is perfectly within the law to regulate weapons other than firearms, Ohio Revised Code Section 9.68 reserves the right to regulate firearms exclusively at the State level.

At the time of the original contact the excuse for the Fountain Square signs was that "The Square is undergoing renovation and the signs are going to be replaced"

Well, the Square is finished and much to my surprise as I discovered in May 2008 the new signs were posted with the same firearms prohibition.

I again contacted both Bill Donabedian of the 3CDC Corporation (private contractor who manages Fountain Square) and Christine Zimmer of the City of Cincinnati Solicitors office. Mr. Donabedian informed me that he is bound by the Cincinnati Municipal Code which currently prohibits lawful carry of firearms for self-defense and has not been instructed to remove/revise the signs. At that point a second phone call to Ms. Zimmer elicited her personal opinion that concealed carry is lawful and that any arrests for violation would be illegal. At that time we reviewed the changes in the law and I informed her that open as well as concealed carry is protected by the current law.

Ms. Zimmer's personal opinion notwithstanding, until the City of Cincinnati officially changes the Municipal Code, informs law enforcement and directs 3CDC and other park managers to remove/revise their no firearms policy they are exposing law-abiding citizens to illegal harassment and arrest as well as opening the City to potential lawsuits.

The City cannot have it both ways...citizens are told "If you don't like the law, lobby to have it changed, but until then you must abide by it." It seems that when the City doesn't like the law the attitude is "We don't like the law, won't abide by it, so sue us" Which just might be the result of the City's failure to comply with the law.

Jeff Riley is a Southwest Ohio volunteer for Buckeye Firearms Association.