Thursday, October 27, 2005
A city's restrictions could criminalize something Ohio sees as legal.
LEBANON, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio's cities should be able to pass more-restrictive gun laws than those passed by the state Legislature, attorneys for Cincinnati argued before the state Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"The whole purpose of local law is to take care of local needs," attorney Charles Rubenstein told the court in one of its twice-a-year sessions outside of Columbus. "What may be appropriate out on the farm is not appropriate in downtown Cincinnati."
Cincinnati is seeking to re-establish an ordinance prohibiting semiautomatic weapons that have a magazine capacity of more than 10 rounds. State law sets a limit of 31 rounds.
The city, hit by rising gun violence and homicide rates, is appealing rulings in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court and the 1st District Court of Appeals rejecting its tighter limits on assault rifles.
Rubenstein acknowledged it would not be permissible for a city to allow a larger magazine than specified by state law. But he contended that the law did not intend to legalize any gun that holds fewer than 31 rounds.
"By its silence, it cannot be said that everything else is legal," Rubenstein said.
"Is not that, by implication, what the law says?" asked Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton.
Attorney J. Robert Andrews, representing a client charged under the Cincinnati law, argued that the ordinance improperly criminalized something not outlawed by the state.
For example, Andrews said, a resident of Cincinnati's west side might legally buy such a gun in the town of Cheviot, next to Cincinnati, and take it home to Green Township, where the gun also is legal.
Quotable
"For a minute, two minutes, five minutes, you drive through the city of Cincinnati and that gun becomes illegal," Andrews said. "City law has criminalized something that state law does not criminalize."
That seemed to strike a chord with the court.
Justice Alice Robie Resnick said Ohio's "Home Rule" law might provide the answer.
Chief Justice Thomas Moyer called that "the nub of the issue" -- determining by what authority a local government can redefine state law.
Cincinnati has wrestled with gun issues before. It sought millions of dollars in damages when it joined several cities nationwide in filing suit against the firearms industry in 1999, contending that gun manufacturers should be held liable for weapons winding up in the hands of criminals. The city abandoned the suit in 2003.
The justices came to Lebanon on Wednesday to hear oral arguments in four cases from the Cincinnati area, including ones involving child custody, workers' compensation and city liability for police actions.
Moyer did not say when the court would rule, although it typically takes several weeks.