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Bill would allow concealed handguns without a permit

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News

Published: May 22, 2015

If bearing arms is an American right, it is not the job of government to require law-abiding citizens to jump through one of the most burdensome processes in the country to exercise it.

That’s the message Rep. Ron Hood presented to members of the House State Government Committee in championing House Bill 152.

The proposed legislation, presented as a constitutional carry bill, would allow a person who is 21 or older and who is not prohibited under federal law from having a firearm, to carry a concealed firearm, other than a restricted weapon, without first obtaining a concealed handgun license.

HB 152 would permit a person who has a concealed handgun license to carry any firearm concealed, other than a restricted firearm, instead of only a handgun.

The bill specifies that the mere fact that an otherwise law-abiding person carries or possesses a firearm, other than a restricted firearm, would not constitute grounds for any law enforcement officer or agent of the state or a local government to search, seize or detain the person, no matter how temporarily.

“This bill simply restores Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed firearm in Ohio without having to first obtain the government’s permission in the form of a permit or license,” Hood, R-Ashville, said last week.

“We don’t require training or a tax for the First Amendment. We don’t require a poll tax or literacy test to vote. We should not require one for the Second Amendment.”

HB 152 is jointly sponsored by Hood and Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Cincinnati.

If enacted, Ohio would become the seventh state to implement constitutional carry, also known as permitless carry or Vermont-style carry.

Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Wyoming, Kansas and Vermont authorize the concept.

Hood said Mississippi, Idaho and Montana have a variation of the law.

“West Virginia and New Hampshire passed constitutional carry through their legislatures,” he said. “Maine is working to pass their version of the bill right now, just as we are considering this piece of legislation.”

More than half a dozen other states, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Indiana, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, are considering similar measures.

“At its heart, this bill is a very modest proposal,” Hood said, noting that it would not change who may carry a firearm, what kinds of firearms may be carried or where firearms may be carried.

“The only change this legislation proposes is how a handgun (and only a handgun) may be carried. We are simply allowing a legal gun owner to carry while wearing a jacket without a permit.”

Enacting HB 152 would not eliminate the existing concealed carry licensing system or the associated reciprocal agreements with other states that come with obtaining an Ohio concealed handgun license.

Under current Ohio law, handguns can be carried open or concealed.

“Anyone who can legally purchase a handgun can lawfully carry it in Ohio with no permit, as long as it remains visible. That’s open carry,” Hood said.

“The moment you put on a jacket that covers up that handgun, you would instantly be in violation of Ohio law, unless you have an Ohio concealed handgun license giving you permission to wear that jacket.”

Hood said the standards are “frivolous and obsolete” and does nothing to prevent violent criminals from carrying guns.

The lawmaker said if someone plans to commit a crime with a firearm, he or she has no incentive to seek a license before committing the offense.

“This policy only impacts law-abiding citizens who choose to jump through the legal barriers,” Hood said.

“Those barriers only disarm the very people who enhance public safety, and empower those who are intent on doing harm.”

Hood went on to say that if the goal is to enhance public safety through firearms training, the current licensing process doesn’t foster that mission.

“Since constitutional carry took effect in 2010, Arizona has issued about 15,500 permits per year. More law-abiding gun owners in Arizona, 63 percent more, are seeking training and obtaining a permit after the permit became optional then when it was government-mandated,” he said.

Conversely, under Ohio’s law for open carry, no training is required.

“And under current reciprocity agreements with states like neighboring Indiana and Pennsylvania, both of which require no training to obtain a concealed carry permit, out-of-staters can conceal carry in Ohio today without any training at all,” he said.

“Current Ohio law respects the Second Amendment rights of out-of-staters more than law-abiding Ohioans, yet there isn’t any epidemic of Indiana or Pennsylvania permit holders crossing the border and going on crime sprees in Ohio.”

Hood said there is “no compelling governmental interest” in continuing to force the current guidelines.

“As lawmakers, we should tell Ohioans that we trust them and that we won’t stand in the way of them and any of their constitutionally-protected rights,” he said.

HB 152 is scheduled for a second committee hearing this week.

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