Ohio v. Weber

Defending Ohio’s prohibition on the use or carrying of firearms by intoxicated persons.

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Issue at Stake: Prohibited persons

Summary: Columbus, Ohio, represented by Everytown Law, filed an amicus brief in the Ohio Supreme Court defending the states prohibition on intoxicated people carrying or using firearms. The brief was joined by Cincinnati, Akron, Dayton, Lima and Toledo. The case is significant because the Ohio Supreme Court could change the way it treats challenges to gun laws under its state constitution. This could not only put laws currently on the books in Ohio at risk of being struck down, but also block future GVP legislation from going into effect. The Cities’ amicus brief argued that in this case there is no need to set a standard for how to review gun cases because the carrying and use of firearms by the currently intoxicated is not conduct that is protected by the right to bear arms as historically understood. The brief discussed the long history of state laws regulating the combination of guns and alcohol going back to Virginia in 1655 and continuing to the present day with widespread laws about carrying while intoxicated and prohibiting guns in bars and other places alcohol is served.

Decision: In December 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court, citing the Cities’ brief, ruled to uphold the state prohibition on carrying a gun while intoxicated.

Case Documents