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Back before a handful of other states adopted “Constitutional Carry” laws providing for permitless carrying of concealed firearms, the practice was called “Vermont Carry,” as the Green Mountain State stood alone throughout the 20th Century in not prohibiting it. Long known for lenient gun laws and low numbers of homicides, Vermont represented the perfect real-world test of economist John Lott’s “More Guns Less Crime” thesis. Which made it a threat to the gun-grabbers… Vermont had also enacted firearms preemption legislation, meaning laws were set by the state, prohibiting municipalities from establishing a “patchwork quilt” of conflicting ordinances that would make...

Image from newsobserver.com In 2011, the North Carolina legislature passed a law to address some of the problems of local governments suppressing the bearing of arms with a hodgepodge of ordinances.  A citizen could be cited for crossing a street without knowing that they were violating a local ordinance.  The 2011 law removed parks from the list of places where cities could ban firearms, along with a number of other reforms.   However, a loophole was left in the law: cities could ban guns from "recreational facilities", which were defined loosely enough that cities banned carry in entire parks that...

 Ohio State Seal As with most states, Ohio pre-empts  local governments from enacting gun ordinances that are stricter than state law.   To allow such laws would make the exercise of second amendment rights a legal minefield, as it would be practically impossible to keep up with hundreds of variations in the law that could make a perfectly legal act on one side of the street a serious crime on the other side. Cleveland challenged the law in 2010, claiming that "home rule" prevented the state from restraining the cities power.   The Ohio supreme court upheld earlier  rulings in favor...

“First, our constitution…says that the right of people to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned,” said Cook. ”The preemption clause in our state law…says that local towns like Erie can’t make other laws concerning firearms.”Cook was one of about 80 who showed up to support “Open Carry Pennsylvania.” Erie police estimated there were 15 to 20 people carrying firearms in the crowd, and they issued citations to some of them, noted the Erie Times-News.Rally organizers tried to get an injunction against the city ordinance, but failed.More from the Erie Times-News: Those at the rally...

HAMMOND, Ind. — The losing attorney in a case over Hammond gun-control ordinances vowed to take the matter to the Indiana Supreme Court after a state appeals court upheld a ruling that two area residents weren't adversely impacted by the restrictions because they're moot under Indiana law.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A bill that would void Charleston's gun ordinances moved a step closer to passage in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday. House members approved a second reading of the legislation (HB2760) in the morning without amending the bill. A final House vote on the bill is expected next week. The measure would strike down county and municipal gun control ordinances, including those enacted by the city of Charleston in the 1990s, that are inconsistent with state law. ---------------------------cut------------------ Opponents of local gun control measures have tried to get the laws in Charleston and other cities...

The mayor of Oak Harbor, Wash. has revealed to Examiner that he will revive a discussion about the city’s illegal prohibition on firearms in city parks at a Feb. 5 city council meeting, and he will not back down from what could be a political and philosophical donnybrook. At issue is political correctness and anti-gun hoplophobia versus state law and constitutionally-protected rights. The Oak Harbor case is something of a microcosm of the national divide over gun rights. Mayor Scott Dudley anticipates a standing-room-only audience at the meeting because of a recent video showing a verbal confrontation between a local...

The Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation has launched a unique pilot project in Washington and Virginia that advances its legal agenda without actually filing any lawsuits, and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb told this column that he is looking to take this campaign nationwide in 2013. SAF’s motto has been “Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time” since the foundation’s landmark Second Amendment case, McDonald v. City of Chicago, was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2010. That ruling incorporated the Second Amendment to the states, thus opening a floodgate for challenges to local laws and ordinances that...

The wording of the law seems clear. “Nothing in this section shall prohibit a city or county from regulating the manner of openly carrying a loaded firearm” on public property. Tell that to the lawyers. From the Kansas Attorney General’s Office: “A city may not completely prohibit the open carry of a loaded firearm on one’s person.” From the Kansas League of Municipalities: “Logically, if the city can regulate, it can prohibit. … The attorney general’s reasoning is erroneous.” The attorney general’s opinion that was released Dec. 29 prompted city councils in Wichita and Overland Park to rewrite their firearms...

On Saturday last, VCDL held a picnic in Green Hill Park in Salem, VA. The event, billed as the “Oh yes we can!” picnic garnered quite a bit of media attention. The picnic, which was attended by over 150 people despite the at-times torrential rain, was held to protest a badly worded Roanoke County ordinance concerning guns in parks. The ordinance which I wrote about when it was first brought to my attention by well known gun rights activists Ed Levine and Brian Reynolds is the most convoluted ordinance I have ever read, including I might add those we studied...

On Saturday last, VCDL held a picnic in Green Hill Park in Salem, VA. The event, billed as the “Oh yes we can!” picnic garnered quite a bit of media attention. The picnic, which was attended by over 150 people despite the at-times torrential rain, was held to protest a badly worded Roanoke County ordinance concerning guns in parks. The ordinance which I wrote about when it was first brought to my attention by well known gun rights activists Ed Levine and Brian Reynolds is the most convoluted ordinance I have ever read, including I might add those we studied...

Washington State’s 29-year-old model state preemption statute is definitely under the gun in the wake of Wednesday’s multiple slayings and a string of recent shootings that have put the Seattle Police Department’s skills to the test. That department has been under considerable criticism in recent months, but on Wednesday, everyone from the top down earned every penny of their pay. That applies especially to Deputy Chief Nick Metz, who was criticized a few days ago in this column for something he said. He deserves high marks for what he did throughout the day Wednesday in the midst of a chaotic...

Chestnuthill Township supervisors will consider whether a township ordinance prohibiting guns in the township park should be repealed. The ordinance may conflict with a state law that says that municipalities don't have the authority to limit the rights of gun owners as long as the owners act in accordance with state gun laws. The possible conflict of local and state laws was brought to the township's attention by Brodheadsville resident William Gray. Gray doesn't want to fear being punished if he carries a firearm into Chestnuthill Park, he said. Gray said that, among other reasons, he'd like to have a...

Frankfort, Ky --(Ammoland.com)- Good news! After the disappointments with the General Assembly in the last few years, when several bills that KC3 and other interested gun owners favored were allowed to wither and die without a hearing, this spring has been like a renewal of the spirit of freedom in Kentucky. For the NRA press release about the three bills that were passed, go to this page from the KC3 blog – http://kc3blog.blogspot.com/2012/04/hb-500-is- now-law.html The bill that was most important to us, HB500 from Rep. Robert Damron, is summarized in this way: HB 500, sponsored by state Representative Bob Damron...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- The battle for your Second Amendment rights continues to rage in Sacramento. On Monday, May 14, the California Senate passed two bills that are detrimental to California gun owners. Senate Bill 1315 passed in the state Senate by a vote of 21 to 14 and Senate Bill 1366 passed by a vote of 23 to 14. Senate Bill 1315, introduced by anti-gun extremist state Senator Kevin de León (D-22), is just a stepping stone to completely destroying California’s firearm preemption law. Firearm preemption laws are in place to standardize firearm laws across the state. This critical law...

Guns.com is busy soaking in the sights, sounds (and smells?) of St. Louis at the 2012 NRA convention but our trip to Missouri has also given us a chance to mingle with gun owners, writers and lobbyists from across the country and swap notes. For example, the word on the street here in Saint Louie is that if a new proposal gets wings, NRA members will be permitted to carry their guns home with them, openly or concealed—on public transportation. Currently, Missouri state lawmakers are mired in legislation that works to block all cities (though this is clearly aimed St....

The Cutting Edge March 26, 2012: Knife Rights' Georgia Knife Preemption Bill SB432 must be scheduled for a vote in the next three days or it will not become law. It is critical for you to take a moment and call the office of Georgia's Speaker of the House David Ralston and POLITELY request that he "please schedule SB432 for a vote as soon as possible." That's all the message you need to leave. Georgia House Speaker David Ralston: 404-656-5020 Email: david.ralston@house.ga.gov

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- The Georgia House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee has been assigned SB432, Knife Rights’ Knife Law Preemption bill that would repeal all local knife ordinances more restrictive than state law. The committee will consider SB432 in the coming days. Once again, we need your help to get this bill passed. Your calls and emails made a big impact in the Senate. Now, please call or email and ask the members of the committee to vote YES on SB432 when it is before them for consideration. Knife Rights’ Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, will be traveling...

A judge has ordered the City of Cleveland Heights to pay Ohioans for Concealed Carry’s legal fees after the organization sued the city over its firearm-related laws. However, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge dismissed the lawsuit and ruled it moot in February, as Cleveland Heights took care of the ordinances in question less than a month after the lawsuit was filed. Cleveland Heights was ordered to pay $7,000. The gun-rights organization took the issue to court in August 2011 because officials said Cleveland Heights’ gun laws were in conflict with new state laws, and the city had ignored...

Florida - -(Ammoland.com)- Leesburg FL (March 14th, 2012) As was reported in December, the City of Leesburg, FL has decided to stick by its anti-gun laws in direct defiance of state law and their own city charter. Leesburg City Manager Jay Evans has flatly refused our requests that the city repeal its firearm ordinances, in compliance with state preemption of firearms law. City Manager Evans stated that: “Any action taken in the future regarding the existence of these laws in our Code of Ordinances will be done at the discretion, pleasure, and timing of the Leesburg City Commission.” The City...