Ohio Attorney General Defends Right-To-Carry Law

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro (R) defended the constitutionality of Ohio's new carry law by intervening in the case Ohioans For Concealed Carry, Inc. v. City of Clyde, where an Ohio city challenged one of the key provisions of the new law.
 
The new law specifically bars cities and towns from enacting or continuing in existence any ordinance that restricts the places where a person with a valid carry license may carry a handgun concealed.  Most cities and towns are in compliance, but the City of Clyde flouted the law, and passed a new ordinance banning the carrying of firearms on their property.
 
Ohioans For Concealed Carry, with support from NRA-ILA and the NRA Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund, brought suit against the City of Clyde to force compliance with the law.  The City of Clyde claims that the law violates its "home rule" powers, but Attorney General Petro counters that the "Concealed Carry law is an issue of statewide concern....The mobility of today's society accentuates the need for uniform regulation throughout the State of Ohio."
 
In April, in response to an inquiry from another community, Attorney General Petro issued a clear opinion that a county could not prohibit a person with a license from carrying a concealed handgun on county property that was not within a building, whether or not they charged a fee for admission to the property.