• Letters to Ohio NFL Teams Requesting Reconsideration of ban on off-duty and retired carry in stadiums
    Updated On: Nov 25, 2015

    THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE OF OHIO
    ENCOURAGES NFL TEAMS TO RESCIND POLICY OF LAWFUL CARRIAGE OF FIREARMS BY OFF DUTY AND RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

    Public safety must be a top priority in light of terrorist attacks

    COLUMBUS, OH -- The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio (FOP) this week sent letters to the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals asking them to rescind a policy that prohibits lawful carriage of firearms by off duty and retired law enforcement officers.

    Ohio FOP President Jay McDonald cited today’s dangerous world as the reason for the request.

    “We live in an increasingly dangerous world and we saw in Paris that the terrorists are targeting large groups of people,” McDonald said. “Allowing off duty and retired officers to carry should provide an additional level of safety to whatever security is provided on site.”

    McDonald said that Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act (LEOSA) allows for off duty and retired officers to carry firearms as long as they meet active duty standards annually.

    LEOSA creates a state-level exemption for the officers, but they must still abide by local rules such as the posting of a prohibition of firearms.

    “As law enforcement officers, our number one priority is keeping the public safe,” McDonald said. “We have the training and equipment and it would be a terrible tragedy for an off duty or retired officer to be in the right place but lack the ability to save lives.”

    National FOP President Chuck Canterbury recently asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to make the exemption league-wide. 

    McDonald said that he hopes for a dialogue with the NFL teams and other organizations which might ban lawful carriage of guns by highly trained law enforcement officers at venues where large crowds gather.


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  • Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, Inc.

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