Article published Wednesday, March 28, 2007 OHIO SUPREME COURT Court again declines case challenging Toledo authority on handgun in parks BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court this morning refused to reconsider its prior decision not to hear a challenge to the city of Toledo’s authority to prohibit the carrying of hidden handguns in its parks.
The court refused a second time by a vote of 5-2 to hear an appeal sought by Bruce Beatty after he was convicted of carrying a holstered and loaded 45-caliber handgun into West Toledo’s Ottawa Park in open defiance of the city ordinance.
The larger issue may have been rendered moot earlier this month when a new state law went into effect to prohibit local governments from enforcing gun laws considered stricter than federal or state law. Ohio’s concealed carry law does not include public parks among the locations where guns are prohibited.
The Supreme Court, however, may eventually have to deal with the question of whether the new law unconstitutionally restricts local governments’ home-rule authority to enact their own gun laws. The city of Cleveland recently filed a challenge to the law in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
Justices Judith Lanzinger, of Toledo, and Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, of Worthington, were the two dissenting justices who wanted to hear Mr. Beatty’s appeal.
Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com. Permanent Link
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