YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Sept. 6 incident at this year’s Canfield Fair involving an armed individual forcing his way through a crowd where the Democratic candidate for governor was speaking hopefully will cause state officials to revisit the issue of permitting firearms at county fairs.
In 2025, then-Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued an opinion that county agricultural societies could not prohibit open carry and concealed carry of firearms on their premises.
Just 13 months after Yost released that opinion, a 38-year-old Canfield man using his cellphone to record a visit by Amy Acton to the Mahoning County Democratic Party’s tent pushed his way through the crowd until he was stopped by the gubernatorial candidate’s security detail and taken into custody by fair police officers, according to a release from the Mahoning County sheriff’s office.
Found on the accused assailant were two handguns and a set of brass knuckles, according to the report. Acton was not injured, but two people were knocked to the ground.
Yost’s opinion posits that agricultural societies such as the Mahoning County Agricultural Society, which operates the Canfield Fair, are political subdivisions and thereby cannot enact gun bans.
Though the weapons were not brandished or pulled from their holsters, the fact that an armed individual was able to get within such proximity to a candidate for office – especially in today’s political climate – should have officials considering whether Yost’s opinion should be reconsidered. Or whether the Ohio General Assembly needs to explore taking action to address firearms availability on fairgrounds, especially when fairs including the Canfield Fair are permitting alcohol sales and consumption in designated areas.
At the very least, a conversation needs to be taking place.
