Cleveland officials cheer appellate court's ruling in firearms case; gun-rights advocate expects reversal from Ohio Supreme CourtBy Henry J. Gomez, The Plain Dealer, found at Cleveland.com
November 12, 2009
The 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals today ruled that a 2007 state law
unconstitutionally restricted Cleveland's powers to enforce its gun ordinances. (The
Associated Press)CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals has sided with Cleveland in the city’s fight to enforce its local gun ordinances.
In a ruling Thursday, the three-judge panel declared that a 2007 state law unconstitutionally restricted the city’s powers to regulate firearms. The judges reversed a lower court’s decision to uphold the law, which says that only federal and state codes can limit the right to bear arms.
The ruling, if it stands, would be a significant victory for Cleveland and other municipalities that have battled to preserve self-governance rights, a concept known as home rule. The Ohio Supreme Court in recent years has chipped away at the long-cherished tenet, most notably in June when justices struck down local requirements that city workers live within city limits.
"The decision is not only a vindication of the constitutional principle of home rule, but it is also a victory in our effort to make our streets, neighborhoods and families safer," Cleveland Law Director Robert Triozzi said Thursday afternoon in an e-mailed statement.
A spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, whose office defended the state law, said lawyers were reviewing the decision.
Cleveland’s gun laws, which include a ban on the sale and possession of assault weapons, were in effect during the city’s appeal of the lower court’s earlier ruling, officials said. Other ordinances on the city books deal with the registration of handguns and prohibit minors from possessing firearms.
The appellate court agreed with Cleveland’s argument that the 2007 law did not establish a comprehensive code or "general law" to regulate guns statewide. The Ohio Constitution’s home rule amendment allows municipalities to enforce local police regulations so long as they do not conflict with general laws. The court also ruled that the 2007 law violated separation of powers.
The case might face a tougher test with the Ohio Supreme Court. Mayor Frank Jackson and City Council members have lamented the high court’s decisions on matters such as the residency requirement, which voters had approved in 1982. Another recent blow came in 2006, when justices overturned a Cleveland law that cracked down on predatory mortgage lenders.
Thursday’s appeals court ruling offered a surge of optimism for city cheerleaders.
"It’s a tremendous decision," Councilman Kevin Kelley said. "A victory for home rule."
But Ken Hanson, the legislative chair for Ohio’s gun-rights advocating Buckeye Firearms Association, expressed little concern even before reading the court’s 20-page ruling.
"The Supreme Court will reverse it," Hanson said.
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/11/cleveland_officials_cheer_appe.html
