The city of Columbus is taking the state to court over a new law that pre-empts local gun regulations, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Gun-rights advocates pushed for the law, which adds to a list of several instances in which the state could pre-empt local laws regulating the “manufacture, taxation, keeping, and reporting of loss or theft” of firearms, components and ammunition. Legislators overrode Gov. John Kasich’s veto of the measure, which would block a set of gun regulations Columbus adopted last year that included a prohibition against firearms manufacturers locating in residentially zoned areas of the city.
The city’s lawsuit argues that by forcing the city to allow firearms or ammunition manufacturers to operate in residential neighborhoods, the new state law attempts to pre-empt the city’s ability to pass a comprehensive zoning code and violate the city’s home-rule authority. The city seeks an injunction to block the law from taking effect as scheduled on March 28. The city’s regulations also banned bump stocks and made it a misdemeanor to have a gun with some convictions, along with other changes. In a ruling now on appeal, a judge ruled the bump stock ban to be unconstitutional, but said another part of the city code did not conflict with state law.