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Ohio Concealed Weapons Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited April 2002 in General Discussion
Ohio Concealed Weapons Law Ruled Unconstitutional







Wednesday, April 10, 2002


CINCINNATI - A state appeals court on Wednesday declared Ohio's decades-old ban on carrying concealed weapons unconstitutional because it violates the right to self defense.


The framers of the Ohio constitution "put the citizens' rights up front," said Mark Painter, presiding judge of the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals. "We believe they meant what they said."

Ohio's attorney general asked the state Supreme Court for an immediate delay of the ruling to hear an appeal, said spokesman Joe Case.

Lawyers for Cincinnati, Hamilton County and the state had argued that government has the right to regulate the manner in which weapons are carried.

The appeals court upheld Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman's Jan. 10 ruling that the state ban was unenforceable in the county. The ban includes both carrying a concealed weapon and having a loaded weapon in a vehicle.

The court also said the ban is confusing to citizens and police, making it likely that various agencies would enforce the law differently.

"I feel like a burden's been lifted off my shoulders," said Pat Feely, 31, a food delivery truck and one of five people who challenged the law. "I feel like I don't risk arrest."

Feely was arrested in 1999 because he kept a gun in his waistband while delivering pizzas.

Ohio allows only law enforcement officials and state and federal government officers to carry concealed weapons.

The plaintiffs, who include a private investigator, say their jobs take them into areas where they need self defense. Their attorneys also argued that conflicting enforcement by different police agencies makes it difficult for people to know how to exercise their constitutional right to self defense.

They said Cincinnati police have arrested people for carrying concealed weapons, and city officers have testified they probably would arrest someone who tried to openly carry a weapon.

A State Highway Patrol officer testified that the patrol has caught motorists carrying loaded guns and let them go.

Forty-three states allow concealed weapons in some form.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,49994,00.html


"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Comments

  • S&W ManS&W Man Member Posts: 208 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Goodness. It is amazing to see a court that finally has figured out what is correct. Maybe we will see more courts and government agencies waking up and doing the right thing.

    The second admendment GUARANTEES the other nine and the Constitution!
  • travelortravelor Member Posts: 442 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Can't our defence follow the same criteria used to win in that case, to show unconstitutionality in our states as well? sorta like roe V wade keeps poping up to sway the rulings in subsequent cases?

    keep lots of extra uppers for your ar..you can change often enough to keep the thing from over heating...what ever caliber fits the moment..~Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~
  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Travelor- The above mentioned case is a "OHIO STATE" case, and was being argued on OHIO constitution grounds, not the Federal constitution. It can not be used to influence laws in other states.
    I think the wording in the OHIO constitution is something like "THE PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS FOR DEFENSE OF THEMSELVES AND FOR THE STATE". It is amazing how law makers can suggest that the amendment means exactly the opposite of what it says.

    Happiness is a warm gun
  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Good for ohio, now if we can get Illinois to do that i would be a happy camper, some of the neighborhoods i work in in Chicago are not the most friendly people.
  • DENWADENWA Member Posts: 390 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hey good for OHIO!! but when can I start carrying in that liberal state? That is a good reason I moved to Florida. Plus you can't hunt with a rifle.

    that's it
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