CCRKBA Applauds Ohio Senate, State Gun Rights Groups

For Immediate Release: December 12, 2006

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today offered its congratulations to the Ohio State Senate for overriding anti-gun Gov. Bob Taft’s veto of concealed carry reform legislation, by a vote of 21-12.

In overriding Taft’s veto, Ohio has effectively become a state in which residents will enjoy the benefits of preemption, meaning that local governments can no longer adopt differing, and often contradictory, firearms regulations. CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb called the vote “a common sense move that will eliminate confusion among private citizens and peace officers.”

“We’re proud of the lawmakers, including Marc Dann, who will be the next Ohio Attorney General, and fellow Democrats Charles Wilson and Kimberly Zurz for joining all but three Senate Republicans in taking this sensible, courageous vote,” Gottlieb said. “This reform measure effectively overrides local gun bans in such places as parks, and it also will nullify local bans on certain firearms.”

“Equally, if not more important,” added CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron, “this reform measure abolishes the absurd requirement that Ohio citizens who are licensed to carry concealed must have their guns in the open while driving. And the new law, which will take effect in approximately 90 days, contains some benefits for police officers, too.

“This victory would not have been possible without some dedicated grassroots work by the Buckeye Firearms Association and Ohioans for Concealed Carry,” Waldron noted. “And Senate President Bill Harris certainly deserves credit for his leadership in this effort. Passage of this legislation does away with the ridiculous patchwork of local ordinances that consistently, and deliberately, confuse law-abiding Ohio gun owners.”

“Ohioans, including apprehensive newspaper editorial writers, will soon realize what residents in other states have learned,” Gottlieb said. “State preemption that prevents patchwork adoption of local gun laws is not only reasonable; it is the responsible thing to do. Now all Ohio residents will know that whether they travel from Akron to Ashland, Cincinnati to Cleveland or anywhere in between, the firearms laws will be the same, and they won’t risk running afoul of some local regulation.”