| Clermont County Holding Firm: No Guns At Fairgrounds |
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| Written by Jeff Garvas | |
| Tuesday, 25 July 2006 | |
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Over the past week Ohioans For Concealed Carry has been in contact with various officials in Clermont County, including Clermont County Sheriff AJ Rodenberg. It is very important to emphasis that Sheriff Rodenberg is a friend of concealed carry interests and is not the bad guy in this dispute. The Sheriff is sworn to uphold the law, and his County Prosecutor is advising him that the Clermont County Agricultural Society's (CCAS) signs are legitimate due to a perceived "private property" status. Tonight, Cincinnati Channel 5 News is strongly advertising the CCAS position on televised news reports and it's website: OWENSVILLE, Ohio -- The Clermont County Sheriff's Department said, despite Ohio's concealed-carry law, that the "No Firearms" signs posted at the fairgrounds are legal and said it has an obligation to enforce the rule. Firearms were banned two years ago. Anyone found with a gun will be cited or arrested and their firearm will be taken away pending court action.You may recall that this first started when the Enquirer printed a story referencing our website. Since then, OFCC has worked to get these signs taken down, and what has transpired follows... Last Friday OFCC shared it's legal analysis of the situation with Sheriff Rodenberg and gained his assistance in sharing that opinion with the County Prosecutor's civil division. OFCC argued that an Agricultural Society is clearly a political subdivision and its property is anything but "private property". Rodenberg felt that OFCC raised valid issues that warranted reconsideration and assisted OFCC in delivering the request to reconsider to the appropriate contacts in the Prosecutor's office. Later that day Sgt. Schraber of the Sheriff's Office called us in his capacity as President of the CCAS to express his interest in resolving the situation. He committed to working with OFCC and the Prosecutor's office to resolve the situation, but cautioned it wouldn't occur before the end of this year's fair, which seemed reasonable. We were later advised by the Sheriff himself that the Prosecutor's office continued to consider the CCAS property to be private property. Ohioans For Concealed Carry will continue to work with the Clermont Ag Society, but we are aggressively investigating our litigative options. OFCC strongly believes that there is significant and unignorable case law that should prevail in this situation and we are prepared to pursue an injunction against the Clermont County Ag Society. For the time being, expect that Clermont County Fairgrounds to be posted "No Guns" for the duration of the 2006 County Fair festivities, and obey those signs or risk trespassing charges. Finally, OFCC is receiving extensive help from the grassroots community on this issue both in our forums and privately. We encourage you to determine if your County Fairgrounds are posted anywhere other than property that is "within a building", determine who owns the property (The County, The Ag Society, or a third party), and then determine who the contacts are for OFCC. Submit this information to us via the Contact Us Form (see the bottom of this page) -- we know this is an issue of statewide concern. |