AG Cordray: State of Ohio will join friend of the court brief asking for Second Amendment incorporation

Appearing Sunday evening as a guest on the Firearms Forum radio show with host Jim Irvine, Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that, in anticipation of the Supreme Court of the United States taking such a case, he has agreed to sign a brief being prepared by the State of Texas in support of the Second Amendment applying to the states.

"Since the Heller decision there have been either two or three federal Courts of Appeals who have confronted the question of whether the Heller decision, which of course recognized the individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and was applicable in that case in the District of Columbia - the question now is whether that same right will apply against state governments across the country," Cordray told WHK 1420 AM listeners.

"It's the doctrine of incorporation. Courts of Appeals have been reluctant to take that step because the U.S. Supreme Court has not taken it. But there are going to be cases, sometime in the next year or two, that are going to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that issue is going to be presented.

"We already have decided to join in an amicus brief that Texas is going to be presenting in one of these cases arguing that the right should be incorporated against the states. I do think that's what the U.S. Supreme Court will end up doing. But I want people to be aware that's coming along and we will be backing the Consitutional right [to bear arms] in those cases," Cordray said.

Cordray also mentioned other cases in the courts right now that relate to gun rights. "There are state laws and then there are local ordinances and there are a lot of cases pending right now where local ordinances are being challenged as violating a uniform state law. Our office is involved in those cases to uphold the uniformity of state laws," Cordray noted, most certainly referring to Buckeye Firearms Foundation Inc.'s lawsuit against the City of Cleveland.

The state attorney general mentioned these items of interest to gun owners at the end of a lengthy appearance on the show, which was dedicated to the issue of open carry in Ohio. Other guests included Massad Ayoob, Director of Lethal Force Institute, Inc., John Pierce, co-founder of OpenCarry.org, and Cleveland Police Sgt. Tommy Shoulders, an opponent of open carry.

Firearms-related news is being made every week on Firearms Forum, Ohio's first talk radio show about guns and gun rights. Tune in every Sunday night from 8pm to 9pm on Cleveland's WHK 1420 AM, or listen live online. Podcasts from this another other historical shows are available here.