STRUTHERS — City Law Director John Zomoida Jr. says he favors giving local communities the ability to decide whether they want to allow the public to bring firearms into their buildings, but he does not think Struthers officials should feel like they need to have a weapon in council chambers to feel safe.

“I believe if there is a concern for the safety of individuals coming to a council meeting, it would be more appropriate to have an armed officer at city council, as opposed to council members having firearms. That would make more sense,” he said.

The issue recently became a topic of debate after the Ohio House voted 57-29 Dec. 6 to make an exception to an Ohio law that bans the possession of any firearm in a building that houses a courtroom. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

It would be up to each community to decide whether to allow weapons during times when the courts are not in session.

The law would not affect common pleas courthouses. No weapons are allowed in courthouses such as those, and the law would not change that.

But the Struthers city building is an example of a government building where there is a courtroom and council chambers in the same building. The Struthers city building also houses other offices, such as the mayor’s office and tax office.

It is the type of building where guns would be allowed if the law were enacted by the General Assembly and signed into law because the building has both a council chambers and a court.

It is just like the city building in Lebanon, Ohio, about 30 minutes northeast of Cincinnati, where the controversy over whether citizens should have the right to carry firearms in city buildings arose in 2020.

One of the sponsors of the bill, State Rep. Adam Mathews, is a Republican from Lebanon.

“This legislation clarifies the law and empowers municipalities like the ones in my district,” Mathews said in a statement after the House approved the bill. “This is a victory for both Second Amendment rights and responsible governance,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

LEBANON, OHIO

The Lebanon City Council approved an ordinance in March 2020 giving concealed carry license holders permission to carry firearms into the city building during council meetings. The building also doubles as a municipal court.

A member of the Lebanon city council, Joe Shafer, said he wanted to be able to bring his firearm to the council meetings to protect himself in case an active shooter targeted council members or others in the meeting, according to a 2020 story in the Dayton Daily News.

Shafer said he did not want the city to have to pay the cost to have security at council meetings.

Lebanon Vice Mayor Mark Messer expressed concern that the signs prohibiting firearms in the Lebanon city building could have the opposite effect on someone bent on violence, seeing a gun-free zone as an inviting place to wreak havoc. A few other Ohio cities also have addressed the issue, the newspaper reported.

LOCAL TIES

The legislation that passed the House would allow a city to enact an ordinance allowing weapons in a governmental building that houses a court as long as the court and office of the clerk of courts are “not in operation at the time.”

In the case of the Struthers building, the clerk of courts office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and again starting at 5 p.m. on Wednesday when Struthers Municipal Court holds night court, said Amsi Medina, the clerk of courts.

Zomoida said Campbell’s clerk of courts is open at similar hours. Campbell’s municipal building also contains its court and city council chambers.

After Lebanon enacted its ordinance allowing weapons when city council was meeting, three residents filed suit in the common pleas court, saying the ordinance conflicted with state law.

They also argued that Lebanon’s ordinance “introduces a risk of physical harm and armed intimidation, particularly in a setting where vigorous discussion on hot-button issues can cause tempers to flare,” according to a December 2021 article in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

But Judge Timothy Tepe of Warren County Common Pleas Court where Lebanon is located affirmed the Lebanon ordinance, saying the city was properly exercising its Home Rule authority, and the city was entitled to summary judgment in its favor, according to an April 5, 2023, article in the Dayton Daily News.

Ken Kamdang, a representative of an organization called Everyday Law, which represented the citizens who filed the lawsuit, called the ruling “a clear threat to public safety.”

STRUTHERS

Zomoida said if a city were to allow weapons at the city council meeting, it would be important for proper security to be in place at the meeting.

Zomoida said he understands a council member’s concern for safety, “but I don’t know how serious the concern is that the public presents a risk of harm.”

“I have always said ‘If crazy wants to do something, crazy is going to find a way to do it,'” he said. “If they really wanted to cause harm to a councilman … they’re going to bring a gun in and start shooting.”

Zomoida said he likes “giving the local governments the option of doing what they want to do. Then, the city council, the administration, can decide what they think is best for their community. You could always say no — we don’t want guns in the building,” he said.

“I would rather have that decision made by the councilmen, who the public has a little more control over as opposed to state representatives. You lose a little bit of control as you get bigger. The same thing with the federal government.”

Zomoida said he is “certainly in favor of protecting everyone’s constitutional rights. But there are limitations on constitutional rights.”

He said he does not know how he would vote if he were a member of council.

He said, “There is a reason you can’t bring guns into certain places. And I think there is a government interest that when you go to a city council meeting in particular there is the freedom to say what you want to say. Things get emotionally charged at times, and you should not have to worry about someone doing something crazy,” Zamoida said.

The Struthers city building has deputies providing security when the criminal courts are in session three days per week. But because there is not always security in the building at other times, there are extra physical security measures in place for offices such as the clerk of courts and tax office, such as bulletproof glass and locked doors.

Zomoida said he understands the argument that people are safer in a restaurant when everyone has a firearm than when a firearm is banned for everyone. “But I don’t think it should have to be the responsibility of individual council members to possess a gun to maintain security in council chambers.”

The city of Struthers has a population of 9,917. Lebanon’s population is 21,191.