AP: Anti-gun mayors contemplate legal challenge to Preemption Law

The Associated Press is reporting that anti-gun Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson plans to waste tax-payer money in a legal challenge to the state's new firearms law preemption statute.

From the story:

Local laws include current assault-weapons bans in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo.

Mayors were weighing their legal options after the vote, with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson saying the city plans to file a lawsuit.

Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said lawmakers are ignoring constitutional protections given local communities.

"We understand there's a difference between urban crime and rural hunting," said Mike Brown, a Coleman spokesman. "The constitution respects that -- the Legislature did not."

Three Senate Republicans voted against overriding Taft, and three Democrats voted in favor of an override, including the attorney general-elect Marc Dann.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Dann said the reason for his vote hadn't changed from the reason for which he supported the bill when it passed the Senate last month. "Having contradictory gun laws all over the state doesn't make sense," he said.

That was the argument of backers including the Buckeye Firearms Association, Ohioans for Concealed Carry and the National Rifle Association, which defended the clause as bringing uniformity to a confusing array of local gun laws.

It is highly possible one of Dann's first acts as Ohio Attorney General will be to defend Ohio law against these mayors' baseless legal attacks.

Again, from the Associated Press:

Besides Dann, other Senate Democrats supporting the override were Kimberly Zurz of the Akron-area and Charlie Wilson, who was elected to Congress in eastern Ohio in November.

"For me the vote was about respecting the vote of the Legislature," Zurz said. "I still have to respect that this body as well as the House passed it by a very fair margin." Republican Sens. David Goodman and Steve Stivers, both representing suburban Columbus communities, voted against the override, as did Republican Sen. Robert Spada of suburban Cleveland.

"We should trust the wisdom of our local officials to make decisions that affect their communities as best they can," Goodman said.

Just last months, Sen. Goodman was locked in an expensive battle with Buckeye Firearms Association-endorsee Emily Kreider to hold his Senate seat. Even though certain other pro-gun groups inexplicably endorsed the incumbent anti-CCW Senator, we stood by our endorsement of his challenger. Goodman's latest statements and his votes on HB347 provide more reasons why.

As to the prospect of legal challenges to the new law, Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair Ken Hanson stated today that "the preemption language in the bill exactly tailors to the requirements the Ohio Supreme Court set forth in the Baskin decision last Friday. Certain dead-enders might try to cling to their failed policies, but in the end we will prevail easily."

"This bill takes nothing away from cities, rather it gives to citizens."