Late last year, the State of Ohio amended its gun laws to allowed gun owners to carry concealed weapons and voided local gun control ordiances in the process. Today, the City of Cleveland filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the law and keep its restrictive gun laws in effect:

Cleveland challenged a state law Wednesday that makes it illegal for the city to make its own gun laws, such as banning assault weapons. Cleveland filed suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on the same day the state law throwing out local gun ordinances took effect. At a news conference announcing the suit, Mayor Frank Jackson said Cleveland will continue to enforce its gun laws, which include prohibiting minors from possessing firearms and banning the sale and possession of assault weapons. Cleveland’s laws were deemed illegal under a new provision of the state concealed-carry gun law legislators adopted last December by overriding a veto by departing Gov. Bob Taft.

The city contends that the law violates its right to make its own laws and enforce the law, but the State’s Attorney General disagrees:

State Attorney General Marc Dann’s office doesn’t necessarily see gun control as a local issue. “The state laws are part of a comprehensive statewide scheme that seeks to protect both the public and the rights of gun owners,” Dann’s press secretary, Jennifer Brindisi, said in a statement.

On this point, it is important to note that the Ohio Constitution, like the U.S. Constitution protects the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. Arguably, the new state law is merely enforcing that Constitutional right.