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Ohio House Votes to Loosen Concealed Carry Rules

photo of gun-free zone
ANDY CHOW
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU

The House has voted to change the rules by which Ohio’s 550,000 licensed concealed carry weapons holders have to tell police that they’re armed. 

Republican Scott Wiggam of Wooster says a CCW holder could face a first-degree misdemeanor, a $1,000 fine and the loss of the license for a year if they don’t promptly notify an officer that they’re carrying a weapon. But Wiggam said the law doesn’t define “promptly."

“Ohio’s current concealed carry notification law is ambiguous, arbitrarily enforced and carries the most draconian penalties in the nation.”

Wiggam’s bill would require permit holders hand over their licenses or say they’re carrying only to officers when they ask for ID. The Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association is neutral on the bill, but the Fraternal Order of Police is opposed. The bill now moves on to the Senate.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.