One more down: Arcanum's gun ban changed after scrutiny

July 30, 2004
Dayton Daily News

Challengers argued it violated state law

ARCANUM | Village officials have modified an ordinance that had banned the carrying of concealed handguns into village lands and parks after gun advocates challenged that Arcanum was violating state and federal law.

The village council in May passed the ordinance despite Ohio's new concealed carry handgun law that permits a person with the proper license to carry a handgun into such places.

The new law includes a long list of places where concealed carries are prohibited, which does not include publicly funded parks and lands.

The village council voted Tuesday to modify the ordinance, removing language that included parks and lands so that Arcanum's village law mirrors the new state law.

"We are very pleased that they chose to do this," said Ken Hanson, office of general counsel for Ohioans for Concealed Carry. "We were able to engage in dialogue and present legal reasoning to avoid litigation, and that's exactly what happened. It's the reasonable and rational way to do things — no litigation, no hurt feelings."

Village officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

At the heart of the dispute was whether local governments can approve ordinances that reverse state laws. In particular, can local municipalities ban concealed guns from public parks and other public land?

In this case, the Ohio attorney general's staff said the village was in violation of the new state concealed-carry law.

After learning about Arcanum's more restrictive ordinance in May, Bruce Beatty, a former lobbyist for the concealed-carry law and a Wood County resident, asked the village to repeal the ordinance. He attended a village meeting in June and threatened to sue Arcanum if officials in the Darke County village did not repeal the ordinance. He said pressure from him, gun advocacy groups and the state attorney general's office turned the village around.

"They finally figured it out that they put themselves in legal jeopardy, both criminally and civilly," he said. "This finally is showing respect for the rule of the law."

UPDATE! The Associated Press covered this story, and it has been reprinted in newspapers across the state.

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