Petro: Cities Can't Prohibit Concealed Weapons in Parks

An editorial in today's Columbus Dispatch brings attention to Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's support of Ohioans for Concealed Carry in filing a brief last week in Sandusky County Common Please Court. In it, Petro states that the city of Clyde and other Ohio cities don’t have the right to restrict people who are licensed to carry concealed guns from taking those weapons into public parks. The Dispatch states that this view "defies common sense and is anti-democratic."

Petro contends that the state — and only the state — can restrict where people holding licenses to carry concealed guns can go. A bill that state Sen. Ray Miller, D-Columbus, introduced last year would specify that cities can restrict gun-carrying in public parks. Miller said he plans to reintroduce the bill in this session. (SB 243 from the 125th General Assembly would have prohibited the carrying of concealed weapons in any park, swimming pool, sports field, or other outdoor premises or property owned, leased, or otherwise under the control of the political subdivision.)

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