Rowlands Nature Preserve in Elyria twp

[knightowl]

Elyria twp was lucky to be donated a large piece of land to transform into a park/nature reserve. Unfortunately they have posted at least two "no firearms" signs that i seen.

[pleasantguywhopacks]

Elyria twp was lucky to be donated a large piece of land to transform into a park/nature reserve. Unfortunately they have posted at least two "no firearms" signs that i seen.

If it is TWP owned and not a building they can not post it.

[knightowl]

Here is the email i sent them

I am writing this E-Mail to officially inform you that the current signs posted at Rowlands Nature Preserve which include the wording “No Firearms or hunting” is a violation of Ohio revised code which in short says only the United States or the Ohio Constitutions can ban firearms from any public property. I am including the link to the law http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/gp9.68 .

I am hoping that to prevent a financial down fall from any lawsuits due to this violation and I believe that simply removing the words “firearms” and “or” from the “No Firearms or Hunting” would be sufficient in preventing any legal action against Elyria Township and its residents.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter
Jeff Phillips
(440) XXX-XXXX

I received a phone call from them today and they said the are going to consult with their prosecutor about the legalities of their sign.

[Cruiser]

The problem here is knowing how to say "No Hunting or Target shooting" without saying "No Firearms Allowed"! I still see that around here on the list of Rules at some town and county parks.

[charben]

While I applaud your efforts in this, I wish you wouldn't have pulled the lawsuit card quite yet. Were YOU going to sue them? In most cases, we don't have to go there in a first communication.

[knightowl]

Well I live in this township and i think the township does a great job and i truly would not want the township to lose my tax dollars for a lawsuit that can be avoided by a simple wording change on the sign. I made that clear to them when i talked to them at a family fun fair Saturday.

[Brian D.]

While I applaud your efforts in this, I wish you wouldn't have pulled the lawsuit card quite yet. Were YOU going to sue them? In most cases, we don't have to go there in a first communication.

Then again knightowl's strongly worded letter may have saved you months of e-mail, snail mail letter and phone tag, Chris, time which would be so much better spent at getting 88 or so county fairgrounds UNposted around Ohio, or something else maybe.

[charben]

While I applaud your efforts in this, I wish you wouldn't have pulled the lawsuit card quite yet. Were YOU going to sue them? In most cases, we don't have to go there in a first communication.

Then again knightowl's strongly worded letter may have saved you months of e-mail, snail mail letter and phone tag, Chris, time which would be so much better spent at getting 88 or so county fairgrounds UNposted around Ohio, or something else maybe.

Very well could be!

[knightowl]

Received anther email today
Jeff, Thank you bringing this to our attention, we have asked our legal council to provide us with the correct language for our signs. Please note that the word firearms has been covered up temporarily while we look into a permanent fix for the sign.

[pirateguy191]

Golf clap. Good job. Let us know what the permanent fix is.