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Amendment would let Ohio cities implement firearm restrictions
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
A Cincinnati city councilman and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate announced plans Thursday to pursue a constitutional amendment to allow Ohio cities to implement localized firearm restrictions.
PG Sittenfeld and others want to block a decade-old state law that enabled the state to institute uniform firearms regulations, pre-empting ordinances adopted in more than 20 Ohio cities at the time.
“If our amendment passes, Ohio cities and municipalities will once again be allowed to enact the gun reform they want, as long as they’re consistent with the Ohio and U.S. constitutions,” Sittenfeld said, adding, “We realize that not every Ohio city will choose to enact new gun-safety laws, and we are not asking them to. We simply believe that cities wishing to enact common-sense reforms should be able to while those that don’t should be free to keep things as they are.”
Before 2007, cities such as Columbus and Cleveland had local ordinances in place banning assault weapons, while Toledo prohibited firearms in city parks, Sittenfeld said. Those ordinances were blocked after lawmakers approved legislation in 2006 pre-empting local firearms laws. The Ohio Supreme Court later upheld the law.
Backers already have developed the wording of the short amendment, and Sittenfeld said they hoped to submit by March the initial 1,000 signatures required before they can fully launch their petition effort. They would have to collect signatures from more than 300,000 registered Ohio voters to qualify for the ballot.
“If we fall short of signatures, we need to get on the ballot this year, we’ll keep working to bring our amendment to the ballot next year or, if necessary, the year after that,” Sittenfeld said.
The head of one firearms group, however, called the proposal “ridiculous.”
“[State law] now says clearly that gun laws must be consistent in Ohio and that cities cannot ban something that state law allows. Quite literally, Sittenfeld is proposing a constitutional amendment to prevent the exercise of a constitutional right,” Dean Rieck, executive director of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said in a statement.