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Firearms now permitted in Poland Municipal Forest
POLAND
Licensed handgun owners now are permitted to bring firearms to the Poland Municipal Forest after village council repealed an ordinance prohibiting them from doing so. The change brings the village into compliance with state law.
“When the law so clearly states you have to allow folks the right to bear arms ... there was no real reason for the village to keep that ordinance the way it was,” said village Solicitor Anthony D’Apolito.
Council voted earlier this week, with all members in attendance in agreement, to repeal the part of the long-standing ordinance that prohibits possession of firearms in the 250-acre public forest. Other parts of that ordinance, however, remain in place, D’Apolito said.
“You still cannot brandish a firearm. You still cannot display it in a threatening manner, but you can possess it now in the Poland woods,” he said.
Council’s action follows D’Apolito’s recommendation to remove the ordinance from the books after right-to-carry advocates threatened to sue the village over it. The village previously removed signs at forest entrances prohibiting firearms.
The village received correspondence from advocates who cited state law and referred to a 2008 Ohio Supreme Court ruling – “Ohioans For Concealed Carry, Inc. et al. v. City of Clyde et al.” – in which the court sided with the right-to-carry group over the municipality, setting the precedent.
According to state law, “Except as specifically provided by the United States Constitution, state law, or federal law, a person, without further license, permissions, 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.”
Public forests are not included in exceptions to the law, unlike other public places such as police stations, school zones, courthouses and government buildings.
While they recognize the need to be in compliance with state law, village officials have expressed concern over individuals bringing weapons into the public forest.
“I just hope that whoever would choose to use their Second Amendment right would do so responsibly, in light of what the woods are there for, which is the enjoyment of nature,” D’Apolito said.