Print |
E-mail to a friend
FEATURED
Hidden guns easier to carry under Ohio law changes
CINCINNATI (AP) — Concealed weapons permit holders can now keep a gun hidden in a car as long as they’re carrying it in a secure holster, one of several changes to Ohio’s conceal carry law taking effect Monday.
The law previously required the gun to be in plain sight.
Permit holders also may bring a gun onto school grounds as long as they are in a car picking up or dropping off a child.
Law enforcement officials say the changes are common sense.
“The more law-abiding people that have guns the better off we are,” said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said.
“Because the bad guys always have guns,” he said. “You look at these school shootings or church shootings, the ones that have been stopped, it was because someone there had a gun.”
The changes also allows holders of valid liquor licenses who are also concealed weapons permit holders to carry a hidden gun on their premises.
In addition, the new law removes the burden of proof from a person who hurts or kills an intruder. The law now includes the presumption that a resident acted in self defense or in defense of another if an intruder has entered unlawfully or without permission.
During debates over the burden of proof change, the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence expressed concerns that the change would lead to more people taking the law into their own hands regardless of the circumstances.
Most county sheriffs said they have not had any trouble with concealed-carriers.
“By far, the vast majority of permit holders are law-abiding people,” said Sgt. Monte Mayer, spokesman for the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
“They are getting the training, doing things the way they should under state law.”
Between 2004 and 2007, more than 108,000 people received carry licenses in Ohio. Last year, the third full year of the law, Ohio sheriffs issued 22,103 licenses, an increase of nearly 18 percent from the previous year.
Permit holders can’t be felons, must undergo a criminal background check, safety training course and pass a test. People who carry a concealed weapon without a license can be prosecuted.
The changes will make the conceal-carry law easier to interpret for citizens and police, said Clermont County Sheriff A. J. Rodenberg.
“But stand by, because they will be implemented next week and some new issue will come up and there’s a possibility of even further changes if that happens,” he added.
———
Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com
