“Ohio Supreme Court sides with gun owners, upholds Ohio's preemption law,” a Dec. 29 Buckeye Firearms Association announcement informs us.
Constitutional: Supreme Court Upholds State Law Prohibiting Local Firearm Ordinances,” Daniel White of Ohioans for Concealed Carry explains:
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 on December 29th in Cleveland v. State in favor of Ohio's law abiding gun owners…Local cities, townships and villages in Ohio simply may not pass pointless local ordinances that differ across the State of Ohio.
From The Wall Street Journal Law Blog:
At issue in the case is whether Cleveland’s tough gun laws can be trumped by more lax statewide gun regulations. Cleveland challenged a 2006 Ohio law providing that only federal or state regulations can limit an Ohioan’s right to bear arms.
There’s more at issue than that—nothing less than the lives and safety of gun owners who are breaking no law—but are nonetheless being physically endangered by those sworn to uphold and protect the law.
I’ve been writing for years now about incidents where Ohio cops have ordered open-carrying citizens to their knees at gunpoint and proned them belly-down on the sidewalk.
I offered a solution to help prevent this to then-Attorney General Nancy Rogers and current AG Richard Cordray:
How hard could it be for the state's top law enforcement officer, the AG, to write a memorandum recognizing the legality of peaceable open carrying, and send it to every police and sheriff's department in the state, as well as to the Highway Patrol? One would assume flow-down communications explaining his interpretations and positions on law enforcement issues are already established and routine.
And how hard would it be for the individual LE departments to transmit this information to their sworn personnel? Again, one would assume they all receive policy training as a condition of employment. If you're already having them sign acknowledgments such as they understand sexual harassment rules, etc., and placing that in their personnel files, how much more effort would be required to have each officer sign and date a simple acknowledgment that he or she understands open carry is lawful?
It’s the subject of my current GUNS Magazine article, which notes the danger is not limited to Ohio.
Perhaps this new ruling will eliminate the need for any special effort in this direction, at least in the Buckeye State, but judging from the sour grapes attitudes and predictions of mass carnage being expressed by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and the usual gang of citizen disarmament agitators, it may be fair to assume compliance will be grudgingly resentful at best, meaning requiring each officer to acknowledge being personally informed of the right to open carry is not only a cheap insurance policy, but a necessary, potentially life-saving one.
Seeing as how his predecessors dropped the ball on this simple action, I’ll contact AG-elect Mike DeWine (after he’s sworn in), historically a committed anti-gunner, and let you know what he says—if anything.
Also see:
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Gun Talk on Versus
“The new Gun Talk series premiers tomorrow (Friday) at 10:00 am Eastern on Versus,” Tom Gresham tells me. “This show is about ‘America's Rifle.’ The AR-15. It also airs on Sundays at 8:00 am Eastern."
That’s good, because I couldn’t get this column out today in time, so a Sunday repeat is helpful.
Tom gives a bit of background:
I co-hosted the first TV series about shooting (on ESPN) 20 years ago. That was "Shooting Sports America," produced by NSSF. Then I created the first TV series about personal defense with guns -- "Personal Defense TV." Many have copied it.
We created "Guns & Gear TV" (runs on Versus), which was the first real hardware-specific show about guns, and now with Gun Talk TV, I think we have a program which will be copied -- again.
It's about gun PEOPLE rather than hardware. We show people training with guns, having fun with guns, going to the world's largest gun show, getting a day of training with the world's top action pistol shooter, etc.
The look and feel of Gun Talk TV will, I think, grab people. It's one thing to tell someone "This really looks different," but it's hard for people to imagine it. When they actually see it, they'll get it.
Sounds exciting.
Click here for more. And bookmark it while you’re there.
And don’t forget Gun Talk Radio…
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A matter of resolve
Last year at this time, I came up with a series of New Year’s Resolutions to count down the days until January 1. Since they’re pretty much evergreen, I’m going to refer to them again this year, as something for newcomers to this column to consider, and as a reminder for those of you who have been long-time readers. Here’s today’s:
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Help wanted--inquire within
Regular readers: Please help me spread the word by sharing Gun Rights Examiner links with your friends via emails, and in online discussion boards, blogs, etc.? (Also note “Share” options, below.) Then get more commentary at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance.
Comments
A few years ago when I was an active peace officer the regional academy held legislative up-date classes just prior to September 1st when most Texas legislation passed during the previous months went into effect. Officers received continuing education credit for attending the classes but even then some officers did not participate. All departments received memorandums from the Texas Attorney General advising of new laws and recent decisions on existing laws. It is hard to say if that information was disseminated among the regular street officers in the larger departments as even memos and special orders from the chief were filtered through several ranking officers before they reached the grunts.
I found out early on that the only way I was going to obtain the necessary information to competently perform my job as a peace officer was to get out of the large department where I was working and move to a small department where I would be the individual getting information directly from the AG. A few years later, after Internet became available, I was able to keep up with the legislative changes as they occurred and also acquired access to the Texas and Federal Registers. Today, I am blessed to be able to check in on this site, WoG, Sipsey Street, Western Rifle Shooters, and many other blog sites where not only gun rights are discussed, but so are incidents of the state’s violations of citizens’ other rights as well.
Part II
I’ve run through all that to say this: A peace officer must take it upon himself to keep up with the many changes in his profession. He cannot allow himself the luxury of assuming that someone higher up the rank ladder will do it for him. He also cannot allow himself to just take another’s word for anything. Rank on a collar, letters after a name on a business card, or a pretty badge does not automatically convey actual knowledge in a subject area. If you act on someone else’s say-so and the poop hits the fan you will be on your own. The very person who assured you that your actions were correct will back off and say, “He used bad judgment. He should have known better.”
[W3]
As a Jewess in the US, I say it is time for all REAL Americans to put our 2nd Amendment FIRST!! Remember that America wasn't won with a registered gun!!
WWW: Of course you're aware that attitudes like yours are rare as hen's teeth in today's "Law Enforcement Community."
Aside from you, I know few who even use the term "Peace Officer" any more - which is IMHO at the root of the Only Ones phenomena and among the biggest problems in our Republic.
DD
Dedicated Dad, "peace officer" is a euphemism for a police officer or law enforcement officer, much as "sanitation engineer" is a euphemism for a garbage collector.
Luis, it is today, but it was not so in times past. Historically they were Peace Officers before they were Enforcement Officers. Few if any think of their primary job as "Keeping the Peace" anymore, today they are only out there to enforce as many laws on as many people as they can even if causes more problems then it solves.
As a Tx peace officer, I was required to take a minimum of 3 days scheduled training every year and to demonstrate knowledge and proficiency in active senarios and classroom participation in legislative changes, search and seizure. firearms, and additional training in dealing with all kinds of family related problems. Other classes were offered during other times at our academy and othe locations
We worked for our citizens who paid our salary and offered a Citizen's Police Academy and ride-along programs for them. Some of our training was suggested by the participants of these programs and we both sides benefited from the interaction.
In addition , all officers were provided an issued copy of the Penal / Traffic Codes and Code of Criminal Procedure. A state agency monitored our training to ensure that all officers, large and small had all required training on threat of losing the officer's liscense
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