Bill to allow concealed firearms without a license in Ohio clears Senate panel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Senate could vote as soon as Wednesday on legislation to allow people to carry a concealed handgun without a permit and no longer require them to notify law enforcement during proactively traffic stops that they’re armed.

Senate Bill 215 cleared a Senate committee on Tuesday after hours of testimony, mostly in opposition to the measure. The Republican-sponsored bill comes after the Ohio House passed similar legislation last month; should SB215 pass the Senate, it remains to be seen whether lawmakers would decide to send that bill or the House bill to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.

Senate GOP spokesman John Fortney and Ohio Senate Veterans and Public Safety Committee Chair Frank Hoagland, a Jefferson County Republican, said Tuesday it wasn’t yet clear whether the full Senate would vote on SB215 on Wednesday.

The Senate and House bills both would allow anyone age 21 or older to carry a concealed firearm unless state or federal law prohibits them from possessing a gun. Ohio would become the 22nd state to allow conceal-carry in public without needing a license, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Ohio currently requires conceal-carry applicants to take eight hours of training and pass a background check.

Both bills would also no longer require motorists to tell law enforcement about concealed handguns in their vehicles, though drivers would still have to truthfully say whether they have a gun with them if an officer asks.

Right now, drivers who fail to pre-emptively notify an officer in Ohio that they have a gun with them face a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, and suspension of their concealed-handgun license. HB227 would eliminate that penalty.

Supporters of SB215 note that both the U.S. and Ohio constitutions guarantee the right to bear arms, and neither mentions anything about training requirements. They also say that so-called “constitutional carry” will make Ohioans safer by lifting restrictions on their ability to carry a concealed firearm.

“SB 215 prioritizes the role of civil government as protector of liberty over the false assertion that arbitrary databases, fees, classes and license renewals are precursors to exercising our birthright,” testified Chuck LaRosa, with the group Ohioans for Concealed Carry, on Tuesday. “In short, this bill empowers Ohioans to enhance public safety by enhancing their own security,” he added later.

Opponents argued that the bill would make Ohio less safe – both by allowing people to carry concealed firearms without needing any training or background checks and also by putting police in greater danger during traffic stops.

“It’s going to result in more intense police encounters – it absolutely will,” testified Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey. “And there will be lethal mistakes, certainly, that people regret. You know, allowing anyone in Ohio to carry a weapon without training or background (checks) makes us less safe.”

Before voting to report SB215 on Tuesday, the Ohio Senate Veterans and Public Safety Committee approved three amendments to the bill.

The first amendment removes from SB215 a controversial proposal to set up a process to allow people accused of using force against another to seek a pretrial hearing, at which a judge could throw out the charges before the case went to trial.

The second amendment to the bill deletes language stating that people in Ohio couldn’t carry a concealed firearm prohibited under federal law. It keeps language forbidding carrying a concealed firearm banned under state law.

The third amendment seeks to raise the proposed penalty for people who lie to law enforcement about having a gun in the car from a minor misdemeanor to a second-degree misdemeanor. In addition, if multiple officers are present during a traffic stop, drivers wouldn’t have to disclose to every officer that they have a gun with them.

In recent years, the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly has passed several other measures to loosen requirements on concealed firearms, including allowing military service members and veterans to carry without a permit and removing the state’s ban on conceal-carry on college campuses and several other locations.