Michelle Lujan Grisham moms demand action
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)

Neighboring states of Ohio and Pennsylvania are offering lessons in real time of what happens when gun control politicians ignore laws and create barriers for the firearm industry. Gun control politicians, acting on behalf of gun control activists, create havoc and disarray when they foist their own restrictive gun control policies that aren’t in step with state law.

Ohio’s Tenth District Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s decision to grant an injunction that allowed the City of Columbus to enact their own gun control laws. The appeals court found that Columbus’ attempt to block the state from enforcing uniform laws for firearms was incorrectly granted, since it was sought years after the challenge and after Columbus enacted their own ordinances that barred standard capacity magazines and firearm storage mandates.

Ohio is one of 42 states that have what is called a “preemption” law. That means authority to enact laws that regulate firearms resides with the state legislature and not local municipalities. Those laws protect from cities and towns creating a patchwork of gun control laws that would ensnare state citizens traveling throughout the state.

“The court’s ruling assures that all Ohioans must abide by the same law, state law, when it comes to firearms,” said Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost in a press release following the court’s ruling. “Just like we argued in court, firearms owners statewide should have to follow the same rules.”

When It’s Gun Control, Though…

It’s a law gun control advocates ignore when it’s convenient. When it comes to enforcing overreaching gun control laws, gun control politicians demand strict adherence and strict enforcement.

Oregon passed their Measure 114 that outlaws standard capacity magazines and requires police to maintain an electronic, searchable firearm permit database, provide additional hands-on firearm training and fingerprint applicants for firearm purchase permits, at least five county sheriffs said they wouldn’t enforce the gun control law, calling it a violation of Second Amendment rights. NSSF is challenging that law in federal court.

Ellen Rosenblum
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

Oregon’s Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum had previous dust-ups over Second Amendment issue with county sheriffs and cited a state law requiring them to arrest and imprison “all persons who break the peace, or attempt to break it, and all persons guilty of public offenses.”

“Thus, a sheriff and deputies have a statutory duty to enforce state criminal laws,” AG Rosenblum wrote in a petition of earlier clashes with sheriffs over Second Amendment concerns.

New Mexico’s Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (top) clashed with sheriffs in her state in 2020 over “red flag” laws. The head of New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association, Tony Mace, wrote that the law didn’t take due process rights into consideration and some sheriffs said they wouldn’t enforce it. Gov. Grisham said sheriffs had no discretion in the matter.

“They cannot not enforce,” she said, according to a CNN report. “And if they really intend to do that, they should resign as a law enforcement officer and leader in that community.”

Zoned Out

The conflict over “home rule” and “self-determination” when it comes to passing a patchwork of gun control laws is playing out now in Lower Merion Township, a suburb of Philadelphia. NPR reported that the town passed a zoning ordinance that would put the only federal firearms licensee, Shot Tec, out of business. Shot Tec doesn’t carry an inventory of firearms. It’s a business that facilitates legal firearm transfers and provides firearm safety classes. Still, town officials want it gone.

Township Commissioner Mike McKeon said the local law is one about zoning and not gun control, yet told NPR, “we’re trying to make everyone feel safer.”

“What the township did is they made it less accessible for people to access their rights and for people to access things like gunsmithing, etc.,” said Shot Tec owner Grant Schmidt, noting his firearm business is the only one in Lower Merion Township.

That’s a sticking point because Pennsylvania has a firearm preemption law. This has been challenged numerous times and was most recently batted down after Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney attempted to ban firearms in city parks and recreation areas. The state’s General Assembly has the exclusive legal authority to write those laws in the Commonwealth. Pittsburg officials learned that again last year after trying to write their own gun control laws.

The striking irony is that those politicians demanding to pass their own local gun laws aren’t calling for crackdowns on criminals. They’re only demanding that those who obey the law are stripped of their ability to lawfully purchase a firearm.

They’re ignoring state law to press their gun control agenda. These are gun control platitudes that run roughshod on state law and ignores criminals that are the real menace to society.

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

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30 COMMENTS

    • “An anti-gun mayor in Missouri tried it, and the state AG went after her…”

      You can bet your (not so sweet) ass the Fascist-Leftists have made winning the office of Missouri state AG a high priority… 🙁

      • I see Soros, Schwab, and the entire array of globalist billionaires on the horizon, waving money, and lies,all of whom should be destroyed both financially, and without any further peace in their Imperialist,rotten lives!

  4. RE: “When it comes to enforcing overreaching gun control laws, gun control politicians demand strict adherence and strict enforcement.”

    That’s just like saying, “When it comes to enforcing over reaching slavery laws, slavery politicians demand strict adhereence and strict enforcement.

    Cease playing cat and mouse with Gun Control politicians when there is more than enough historical evidence to abolish Gun Control..like its sidekick Slavery.

      • Pennsylvania isn’t New Jersey…but it’s not Ohio either…something of a difference there when it comes to gun laws….

    • “Time to start banning politicians…”

      No need, all that needs to be done is to hold them accountable for their actions…

  6. The gun control crowd shows more respect for criminals by far vs what they show good citizens.
    It is highly unlikely that these brain numb gun control freaks will ever see the error of their ways.
    In their minds they are so perfect that it is a waste of time even having a conversation with them and having any meaningful conversation is an utter impossibility.

    • “The gun control crowd shows more respect for criminals by far vs what they show good citizens.”

      In America, someone must be treated as innocent *before* they are adjudicated guilty.

      Anything different is what the tin-pot Fascist dictators want.

      {Paraphrasing}

      “In America, it is better for the guilty to go free than to convict one innocent citizen…”

    • state legislatures are reluctant to share their power…and that’s the way it should be with the liberal loons in the cities trying to alter long-established practices….gun control wouldn’t solve their problems anyway…they’ve got other issues

  7. “The striking irony is that those politicians demanding to pass their own local gun laws aren’t calling for crackdowns on criminals. They’re only demanding that those who obey the law are stripped of their ability to lawfully purchase a firearm.

    They’re ignoring state law to press their gun control agenda. These are gun control platitudes that run roughshod on state law and ignores criminals that are the real menace to society.”

    EXACTLY

  9. OK, ladies, here is the problem, gun control is nothing more than a naïve theory that, somehow, criminals who are willing to ignore laws against rape, torture, kidnapping, theft, and murder will obey a law that prohibits them from getting or having a firearm.  It is a theory advanced by those who do not understand life and its complexities, and never think about the unintended consequences of gun confiscation, which we know is what you want. If you fear the night now, just wait until the Democrats take the guns. What are you going to do when the boogieman cometh, ladies? The boogie man will not give up his weapons, and may not need them if he is bigger, faster, or stronger than you, or has a hammer or knife or ball bat. The theory that criminals who are willing to ignore laws against rape, torture, kidnapping, theft, and murder will obey a law which prohibits them from accessing or owning a firearm is outright naïve, and dangerous. YOU will pay the price for your ignorance and lack of insight. You have been indoctrinated by the “Democrats” and are now a tool of their subversive and traitorous agenda. Congratulation for being so stupid.

    “If gun laws in fact worked, the sponsors of this type of legislation should have no difficulty drawing upon long lists of examples of criminal acts reduced by such legislation. That they cannot do so after a century and a half of trying – that they must sweep under the rug the southern attempts at gun control in the 1870-1910 period, the northeastern attempts in the 1920-1939 period, the attempts at both Federal and State levels in 1965-1976 – establishes the repeated, complete and inevitable failure of gun laws to control serious crime.” ~ Orrin Hatch

    • Gun Control has nothing to do with criminals and breaking the law, it has everything to do with disarming the civilian population so they can more easily be subjugated and, when necessary, eliminated.

      This is the goal of democrats (communist party USA), overthrow the constitution and set up their utopian, society. They don’t want anyone, especially conservatives to be armed so they could resist.

    • Moms Need Action should go home,and polish their husbands “barrels” much more often—unless you dont like pigs! slavery is a form of cowardice on the part of the easily enslaved–I.E.–by the Democrat/KKK/Slave Owner/Communist Party.

  11. If these mayors want sheriffs to start “doing their job”, shouldn’t they start by arresting the mayors and politicians who violate the preemption laws and such?

    • They are all violating FEDERAL LAW. 17-242
      And I have NEVER heard of anyone getting prosecuted for it. When will we ever have a federal attorney with balls enough to do their job?

  12. Oregon’s current Attorney General looks just like Oregon’s last governor (Kate Brown). I swear these people are inbreeding.

  13. Oregon’s Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum had previous dust-ups over Second Amendment issue with county sheriffs and cited a state law requiring them to arrest and imprison “all persons who break the peace, or attempt to break it, and all persons guilty of public offenses.”

    REally? Let us knwo when Portland starts throwing all the antifa rioteres in jail. Until then, Ellen needs to STFU

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