Ohio Supreme Court to hear Home-rule Gun Law Case

The Toledo Blade has the story here:

COLUMBUS — In 2005, Bruce Beatty openly defied Toledo’s ordinance prohibiting guns in city parks, throwing a well-publicized “birthday party” to mark the anniversary of passage of Ohio’s concealed-carry law.

He carried a 45-caliber handgun into West Toledo’s Ottawa Park, and was arrested, tried, and convicted. He was ordered to fork over $129 in fines and court costs that he steadfastly refuses to pay. And despite his protests, Toledo’s law remains on the books.

Three years later, the Ohio Supreme Court will wade into a thorny issue that has the National Rifle Association, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, and Ohioans for Concealed Carry aligned against cities. The court must decide whether the state can tell local governments whether they can regulate guns on their own property, the latest battle in the wider war over local home-rule authority.

No matter what the court decides, Mr. Beatty’s misdemeanor conviction will stand. The high court refused more than a year ago to hear his appeal of a lower-court ruling upholding Toledo’s law and his conviction.

But Mr. Beatty will watch from a distance Wednesday as the all-Republican court considers a challenge brought by Ohioans for Concealed Carry against a very similar ordinance in the Sandusky County city of Clyde.

“I’m claiming victory,” Mr. Beatty said. “Clyde is going to lose this.” . . .