NEOOpenCarry
Regular Member
I received an email from one of our members taht Massillon had a restrictive local ordinance in place banning the carry of weapons so I decided to look it up and check it out. Here is how the encounters went. These are taken straight from our facebook page.
"Ok guys we have a serious problem in the city of Massillon that needs addressed. I just called the Massillon department of law and was transferred to the Massillon Police Department. I asked them about local ordinance 549.12 which states that "no person shall carry on or about his person a pistol..." I asked what this meant and was told that this didn't apply if you had your ccw. I then asked about open carrying a firearm since you do not need a ccw to openly carry. I was told that the open carry of firearms in Massillon is prohibited. I told them that went counter to ORC 9.68 and the City of Cleveland v state of Ohio preemption decision and was asked "what's your point?" I said my point was that it was illegal for them to enforce such an ordinance in the State of Ohio. He got very irritated with me and told me that if I carried a gun openly in Massillon I would immediately be arrested and he would let the courts figure it out. I told him that if he knew it was illegal to enforce and he still chose to arrest me or detain me that he would be knowingly violating my civil rights which is a first degree misdemeanor in Ohio. He said that that is fine and said again that if I came here with an openly carried firearm I would be arrested and the courts could "deal with me." He then started saying goodbye and I asked for his name which he begrudgingly gave me. He again tried to hang up and I asked for a number I could reach him at. He refused to give me his number and told me to call the non emergency police number to get through to him. His name is James Slutz and I believe he was at the Massillon Police Department although they transferred me 3 times so I'm not sure where I ended up. I hope I got the spelling of his name right. He was speaking very fast and trying to hang up."
10 minutes later...
"Ok I contacted the Stark County Prosecutors Office and explained what happened. They recommend that we try one more time to go through the city prosecutors office and let them know what happened with MPD. If I get the same response from them they want me to file a formal complaint with Stark County and it will be referred to the prosecutors office and we will continue from there. So as soon as I get a chance I will call city prosecutor back."
4 hours later...
"Ok, newest update on Massillon. I called the Massillon prosecutors office again and was first told that there was no one there that could help me today. After I informed them that I called the Stark County prosecutor’s office and they recommended I start with the City office, 2 minutes later an attorney was on the phone. Talked to her for about 15 minutes and explained the situation. I told her I was completely disturbed by my conversation with the MPD and that I needed to have the members of my organization who live in Massillon be afforded the same rights as everyone else in Ohio. I completely explained the preemption law and she said that as long as there was a law on the books in Ohio that preempted their statute, there wasn’t much the officers could do and basically eluded to the fact that if someone did get arrested for it that the charges would be dropped. I told her that the ordinance needed to be completely removed so that no lawful citizens got arrested and had to go through the legal process at the cost of the city when the case is dismissed. She said that it appeared like we could get it removed and said that she could not do it from the prosecutor’s office, that she needed to transfer me to the Massillon City Council. I talked to a lady there who was very confused about the preemption law and though that Massillon’s ordinance was directly from the ORC and she couldn’t change a state law. I informed her a number of times that this was not the case. She said she had to check back with the law director of Massillon (which was the first place I called at the beginning of all this!). He will not be available until Friday, so she said she would check with him and get an answer and get back to me by Friday. I am exhausted, but thrilled at the same time that we can proudly say we are working very hard on making the city of Massillon friendly to law abiding gun owners and open carriers. Thank you all for the support and I will keep you all updated as soon as I hear something else. Stay safe NEO Carry.
-Brett"
As soon as we get this issue resolved, NEO Carry will be organizing an open carry firearm educational walk through Massillon. I will keep everyone updated on what is going on.
"Ok guys we have a serious problem in the city of Massillon that needs addressed. I just called the Massillon department of law and was transferred to the Massillon Police Department. I asked them about local ordinance 549.12 which states that "no person shall carry on or about his person a pistol..." I asked what this meant and was told that this didn't apply if you had your ccw. I then asked about open carrying a firearm since you do not need a ccw to openly carry. I was told that the open carry of firearms in Massillon is prohibited. I told them that went counter to ORC 9.68 and the City of Cleveland v state of Ohio preemption decision and was asked "what's your point?" I said my point was that it was illegal for them to enforce such an ordinance in the State of Ohio. He got very irritated with me and told me that if I carried a gun openly in Massillon I would immediately be arrested and he would let the courts figure it out. I told him that if he knew it was illegal to enforce and he still chose to arrest me or detain me that he would be knowingly violating my civil rights which is a first degree misdemeanor in Ohio. He said that that is fine and said again that if I came here with an openly carried firearm I would be arrested and the courts could "deal with me." He then started saying goodbye and I asked for his name which he begrudgingly gave me. He again tried to hang up and I asked for a number I could reach him at. He refused to give me his number and told me to call the non emergency police number to get through to him. His name is James Slutz and I believe he was at the Massillon Police Department although they transferred me 3 times so I'm not sure where I ended up. I hope I got the spelling of his name right. He was speaking very fast and trying to hang up."
10 minutes later...
"Ok I contacted the Stark County Prosecutors Office and explained what happened. They recommend that we try one more time to go through the city prosecutors office and let them know what happened with MPD. If I get the same response from them they want me to file a formal complaint with Stark County and it will be referred to the prosecutors office and we will continue from there. So as soon as I get a chance I will call city prosecutor back."
4 hours later...
"Ok, newest update on Massillon. I called the Massillon prosecutors office again and was first told that there was no one there that could help me today. After I informed them that I called the Stark County prosecutor’s office and they recommended I start with the City office, 2 minutes later an attorney was on the phone. Talked to her for about 15 minutes and explained the situation. I told her I was completely disturbed by my conversation with the MPD and that I needed to have the members of my organization who live in Massillon be afforded the same rights as everyone else in Ohio. I completely explained the preemption law and she said that as long as there was a law on the books in Ohio that preempted their statute, there wasn’t much the officers could do and basically eluded to the fact that if someone did get arrested for it that the charges would be dropped. I told her that the ordinance needed to be completely removed so that no lawful citizens got arrested and had to go through the legal process at the cost of the city when the case is dismissed. She said that it appeared like we could get it removed and said that she could not do it from the prosecutor’s office, that she needed to transfer me to the Massillon City Council. I talked to a lady there who was very confused about the preemption law and though that Massillon’s ordinance was directly from the ORC and she couldn’t change a state law. I informed her a number of times that this was not the case. She said she had to check back with the law director of Massillon (which was the first place I called at the beginning of all this!). He will not be available until Friday, so she said she would check with him and get an answer and get back to me by Friday. I am exhausted, but thrilled at the same time that we can proudly say we are working very hard on making the city of Massillon friendly to law abiding gun owners and open carriers. Thank you all for the support and I will keep you all updated as soon as I hear something else. Stay safe NEO Carry.
-Brett"
As soon as we get this issue resolved, NEO Carry will be organizing an open carry firearm educational walk through Massillon. I will keep everyone updated on what is going on.