Taking aim at guns in parks

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The city is looking at a proposed ordinance change that would permit the carrying or possessing of
firearms in city parks.
The change would bring the city in line with the Ohio Revised Code and rulings by the Ohio Supreme Court.
The matter was given a first reading at Monday’s City Council meeting.
According to a legislative package document distributed to council by Municipal Administrator John
Fawcett, "current city ordinance prohibits carrying or possessing firearms of any description
within parks."
However, this conflicts with language in the state law, with broadly permits possession of firearms. The
Ohio Supreme Court affirmed that legislation, saying in a decision that the state legislature, in
creating the law, "gave persons in Ohio the right to carry a handgun unless federal or state law
prohibits them from doing so."
"However, as proposed, the City ordinance will continue to prohibit the use, carry, or possession of
a firearm within park property if its intended use is to hunt, trap or pursue wildlife unless
specifically permitted by the Safety Director," the package document noted.
The first reading of the matter elicited no comment from council.
After the meeting, Fawcett noted that, though the new language would bring city ordinance in accord with
the ORC, "yet we still want to affirm our right to protect" those who want to enjoy the parks
by limiting the use of the firearms.
Fawcett said that "we’ve been mindful of the inconsistency" between the city’s ordinances and
the ORC, and as a result police have not been enforcing the portion of the ordinance dealing with
possession of firearms in the parks.
The new language, he said, had its genesis in correspondence with firearms-related groups who pointed out
the ORC language and court rulings.
Fawcett noted that the organization Northwest Ohio Open Carry, which held an Open Carry Walk in the
city’s downtown on May 10, was not among those who corresponded with the city about the matter.
The legislation is expected to be put up for a vote at an upcoming meeting.
In other business, council:
• Heard a first reading of an ordinance permitting Fawcett to sign a contract with the International
Association of Firefighters Local 2379, representing the Bowling Green Fire Division.
The three-year contract would increase wages by 3 percent each year, with premium payment increases for
group medical insurance coverage starting in July of this year, and a lump sum payment of $500. The
annual first year cost of salary increases, fringe benefits, and the lump sum is slightly under
$125,000. The additional cost that the union would pick up in health insurance costs through the end of
2015 is approximately $31,000, making the net annual cost in the first year about $94,000.
Councilmen Bob McOmber and John Zanfardino were absent from the meeting.

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