Fairfax, VA—On Tuesday, the National Rifle Association (NRA) entered as a defendant-intervenor into a lawsuit brought by the City of Cleveland against the State of Ohio in an attempt to usurp state firearms law pertaining to the possession, sale and transportation of firearms in Ohio.
“We have joined in this lawsuit as a defendant-intervenor to protect law-abiding gun owners in Ohio from harassment by an unreasonable and confusing patchwork of municipal gun laws,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. “NRA and our members support Ohio preemption so that the state legislature, rather than every town, village and burg, has the sole ability to control state police powers that are clearly of general concern.”
The City of Cleveland seeks to overturn a law enacted by the legislature reserving to the state the domain of firearms regulation. If the City succeeds in court, the legislature will lose its authority to manage a uniform set of laws regarding the possession, sale and transportation of firearms across the state. Law-abiding citizens would be subject to conflicting ordinances from town to town, leaving them with uncertainty about their legal status.
In addition, NRA members and gun owners living in Ohio and all states holding reciprocity agreements with the state could lose their ability to legally protect themselves and their families.
“The state legislature passed firearms preemption legislation because law-abiding citizens and gun owners want to know there is a stable and consistent set of laws across the state,” concluded Cox. “The NRA remains steadfastly committed to upholding the Second Amendment freedoms of law-abiding gun owners throughout Ohio and across the country, and that is why we are taking part in this suit.”
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Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen's group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation's leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.
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