I found this story on Packing.org.
Hopefully the citizens of Ohio can find a way to defeat this at the state level. I admit that my legislative knowledge is seriously lacking, but there has got to be something that could be done to prevent cities from passing this type of law.
Text of article:
Ohio: Columbus City Council Unanimously Votes to Ban Assault Weapons
Press Release Source: Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence
Columbus City Council Unanimously Votes to Ban Assault Weapons
Monday July 11, 7:12 pm ET
COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 11 /PRNewswire/ -- With a unanimous city council vote of six to zero, Columbus joins other Ohio communities in banning assault weapons. Following a series of public hearings, Council members determined the risks to Columbus families increased unacceptably when the U.S. Congress failed to renew the federal law which expired on September 13th, 2004.
The Columbus ordinance bans the possession and transfer of assault weapons while continuing to allow the use of the weapons at licensed shooting ranges and in officially sanctioned competitive shooting events. Individuals who lawfully owned and possessed assault weapons before the ordinance's effective date may keep their weapons but have 90 days to register them with local authorities.
The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence (OCAGV) provided support for the ordinance and testified in the public hearings. Toby Hoover, Executive Director of OCAGV, congratulated the City on its progressive action to make Columbus a safer place to live and raise families.
Said Hoover, "Assault weapons are semi-automatic guns that are made to spray fire a high volume of bullets. Assault weapons are not hunting guns. They are people killers and we should never forget that we are talking about people, both victims and survivors. These guns are an assault on us all and we congratulate Columbus for regulating them."
Sue Ann Schiff, Executive Director of Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV), agreed: "Assault weapons are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. The Columbus ordinance is directed to military-style weapons designed for rapid spray firing, not to standard sporting firearms."
At the request of the chair of the Columbus Public Safety Committee, Michael Mentel, LCAV testified about assault weapons, and provided the Committee with its comprehensive report, Banning Assault Weapons - A Legal Primer for State and Local Action, which includes a model law. The report provides a legal framework for state and local governments interested in banning assault weapons. LCAV has a special interest in assault weapons: it was founded in 1993 following an attack in San Francisco in which a gunman with two assault weapons shot 14 people, killing nine.
For more information visit http://www.ohioceasefire.org and htpt://www.lcav.org .
To our brothers and sisters in arms in Ohio, keep fighting. Please don't join California, N.J., Mass., and New York as another state where your rights are taken away.
This is the part that worries me the most.Banning Assault Weapons - A Legal Primer for State and Local Action, which includes a model law. The report provides a legal framework for state and local governments interested in banning assault weapons.
OT: Thanks guys, you have all made me begin thinking. :? THis post is almost as long as one of stevie_d_64's.
