“I have to” vote for the change, Lehner said. “I’ve sworn by law to uphold the Ohio constitution. So, on legal advice, I will be voting to bring us in conformity with state law.”
The amendment was requested to avoid conflicts — and potential lawsuits — with a state measure on uniform firearm laws.
The Ohio General Assembly approved the law and it was upheld by the state’s Supreme Court, which said state legislatures’ actions did not violate home rule, Kettering Law Director Ted Hamer said.
The state allows lawsuits “against municipalities that may have ordinances in conflict” with its uniform firearm laws, Hamer told Kettering City Council.
In a rare split vote, council last month by a 4-3 tally rejected considering the change. Bruce Duke, Jyl Hall and Tony Klepacz all joined Lehner in opposition.
Duke said “it’s another example of where the state legislature — upheld by the Supreme Court — has taken away another local rule that we might have to protect our citizens.”
Among the reasons Hall said she voted against the change was she doesn’t “anticipate guns on snowmobiles to be a great issue for Kettering” and she wanted more time to review its implications.
Last week, council voted 6-0 in favor of considering the amendment. Lehner said she expects the change will be approved in June.
“What we were made aware of by our legal counsel was that the city could not have a different position than (the) state on this particular area of the law,” Lehner said, “and that we were in violation of state law if we didn’t correct our language.
“I was not in support of the state law when it was passed,” she added. “We have to do something about guns in this country. We had one more reminder” with last week’s mass school shootings in Texas.
“I would say the very fact that we’re passing legislation saying you can carry a loaded gun in the city of Kettering while you’re riding a snowmobile is sort of indicative of the absurdity of this whole issue,” Lehner said.
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