Concealed Carry Absurdity in Ohio
November 30th, 2006 by Syd
The citizens of Ohio are currently undergoing a legal exercise that shouldn’t even be necessary. They are “reforming” their concealed carry law to remove some absurd provisions of the law inserted to appease the Ohio State Highway Patrol and anti-gun governor, Robert Taft. For a detailed survey of the “reforms” and links to the bills, click here
The supreme absurdity of the original law has to do with the rules regarding concealed carry in a motor vehicle. The law required that a CCW permit holder had to carry the gun unconcealed while driving or put it in a locked box. If I remember correctly, you could not carry concealed in a motor vehicle if the vehicle was transporting children under the age of 18. Failure to announce that you are wearing a gun is a misdemeanor (and will remain so under the new law with even stiffer penalties) and stepping out of the car while wearing a concealed gun during a traffic stop is a misdemeanor and second offense is a felony. What’s really ironic about this is that Ohio is at least theoretically an “open carry” state. The reform bill no longer requires the open carry while driving and relaxes the rules about how the gun can be carried, while retaining the announcement provision.
When the Ohio CCW law first passed, we advised our members in Kentucky to be extremely careful while traveling armed in Ohio because the rules were so hinky that a permit holder could easily run afoul of this convoluted set of rules without realizing it.
The second major element of the reform bill is a preemption rule which means that state law on firearms preempt local ordinances that may be passed by municipalities. Preemption laws are necessary to protect law-abiding gun owners from falling victim to a patchwork of locally passed rules that no one could realistically memorize and sort out. Illinois does not have a preemption statute and you can see the mess that its absence causes. Gov. Taft has threatened to veto the bill because of the preemption clause, but the bill passed the Senate with a veto-proof majority, so we will see.
The part of this that intrigues me is the bizarre logic being employed by Gov. Taft and his proxy, the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The unconcealed while driving provision was inserted because the OSHP was afraid of walking up to a car in which guns might be concealed during a traffic stop (as if they haven’t been doing that all along). So the logic here must be that a law-abiding citizen who has passed all of the background checks and training is going to suddenly draw a gun and shoot an OSHP officer over a speeding ticket? Or maybe the thinking is that a homicidal criminal will proudly display his gun and announce to the officer that he is about to commence a gun fight so the officer can get ready to defend himself. (????) Maybe I’m just dumb, but I don’t get it.
Or, just maybe the OSHP is jealous of its privilege to be armed in public places and thinks that they are the only people who should be allowed to be so. A last possibility would be that a New York strategy is being employed: have the CCW law on the books, but place so many hurdles and Byzantine regulations in the way that citizens will just give up and not try to lawfully arm themselves.
The announcement rules, meaning the requirement that you tell an officer that you are armed during a traffic stop, suffer the same “Catch-22″ logic problems. If I am law-abiding enough to abide by the rule and tell the officer that I am armed, I am not likely to engage in a gratuitous gun fight because he has had the profound indiscretion to stop me for a burned-out tail light. Conversely, an armed criminal is not likely to say, “Oh, by the way, I have a gun. You can throw me on the ground and handcuff me now.”
Logical analysis reveals that these are silly rules that do nothing to enhance the safety of peace officers in Ohio, but serve only to harass law-abiding permit holders. It’s logic that only a hoplophobe could understand.
Regardless of the strange logic, the Ohio legislature is to be praised for making this conscientious effort to bring reform and rationality to Ohio’s concealed carry law. We also hope that they will have the intestinal fortitude to over-ride a veto should Gov. Taft be so ill-advised as to issue one.
Good analysis, however I would just like to point out that the current statutes do not limit the carrying ofi a weapon in a vehicle which is carrying minors. That section was struck down just before passage.
This new bill is a MUST for motorcyclists who carry here in Ohio. Currently I must open carry my weapon, which is kind of rediculus in itself. Most people in my community who notice the 5″XD in strongside Serpa smile and wave or give a thumbs up. However, when riding in communities which I am less familiar with, and which may be less gun friendly, I become a little nervous because of the lack of preemption. Can I use thier parks while armed? Can I walk down their sidewalks while armed? Can I enter their businesses while armed? Because I must pull into said communities while open carrying, any alert law enforcement officer, or nervous sheeple, could just be waiting for me break one of their local firearms ordinances.
It’s obvious here in Ohio that the State Police’s association and Highway Patrol do not actually represent the views of actual police officers in Ohio. These two organizations are merely rubber stamps for the will of a hand-full of politicians in Ohio who got them their phoney baloney appointments.
[…] Syd points out that the citizens of Ohio would like improved concealed carry laws for Christmas this year. If I can insert my own thoughts here, it can sometimes be tough to clean up a law like that. It’s not because of major political mobilization against it for the most part, but rather because it’s not a hot button, it’s doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Ohio residents, one way to build great relations with your legislators and to make improvement type legislation a priority is to reach out to them. Invite the friendly and middle of the road ones to your gun club holiday dinner. They get access to voters and you get their ear for a night. If they don’t come, invite their staff. Point being, many gun clubs do stuff at this time of year that provides a great opportunity to have your local lawmaker’s attention and remind them that you’re good people who don’t deserve to have their rights restricted. […]
Nice Post.
That was well said. Always appreciate your indepth views. Keep up the great work!
John
I hold an out of state Florida ccw and Love the prieledge very much. while involved in an expired license tag citation in west chester OH, I was searched repeatedly- both my person and my vehicle- my folding knife confiscated, and I was handcuffed andsat in the cruiser while the vehicle was again searched, and the citation was written. Of course I was found guilty and had zero fine and only court costs to pay. The knife was never returned and it was explained to me by the officers that they were going to keep it in order to keep myself and themselves “safe”.
now…I announced that i had a ccw and was NOT carrying -this is at 330 pm mind you- and while being shaken down I caught a whiff of disbelief from the officers after over and over they asked particulars about the manner in which i stow my pistol, what make, if I was “sure” that I didn’t have a firearm on my self at that time… It was as if they didn’t even believe that I was telling a lick of truth!grrrrrrr
My father and two of his brothers proudly and faithfully served as policemen in ohio and all retired doing so. In an effort to understand where the mentality of the involved officers I have given myself a headache. I will carry where legally allowed because I have the constitutional right to do so,and I have proved to the State that I am competent to do so. However, I can forsee myself and my tax dollars and my money in the local department of commerce in the form of goods being bought ——moving. Right the hell out of this backward undeniably bizzare State of OHIO. it sickens me the way Taft and other like minded individuals have slimed their way into positions of power and discretion. In a manner of speaking, the OHIO ccw seems to be legal entrapment aimed at those who wish to obey the law and protect the common good of our neighborhoods and this great nation. —-Truthfully disgusted-respectfully submitted.