House considers bill on concealed guns

The OSHP has some reservations about the changes.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- The full Ohio House will consider today a bill that would make changes to state law that allows law-abiding Ohioans to carry concealed handguns and would pre-empt local regulations on the issue.
The House Criminal Justice Committee approved the measure, sponsored by state Rep. Jim Aslanides, a Coshocton Republican, on Tuesday. House Speaker Jon Husted, a Dayton-area Republican, said he expects to bring the measure up for a vote when the House convenes today.
According to a legislative analysis, the bill would find that state lawmakers need to provide uniform laws throughout the state regulating the ownership, possession, purchase, other acquisition, transport, storage or other transfer of firearms.
In a vehicle
The measure, if passed, also would remove the requirement that a gun be kept in plain sight if a concealed-carry permit holder in a vehicle is pulled over by law officers.
Under the measure, a permit holder who is stopped by law enforcement would still have to tell law enforcers if there is a gun in the car.
A provision in the bill that would have changed whether journalists could get the names of all concealed-carry permit holders in a county has been dropped.
And, though Aslanides said he would pursue those changes through other legislation that would change Ohio's public-records laws, Husted said he has no intention of allowing those changes to proceed.
"Overall, I think it's a good bill," said John H. Hohenwarter, Jr., a Fairfax, Va.-based lobbyist for the National Rifle Association of America.
But a representative of the state's chiefs of police said he believes the measure's pre-emption of local-gun regulations would violate the Ohio's home-rule provisions.
Against change
"I think it's blatantly unconstitutional," said John Gilchrist, legislative counsel for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.
But Aslanides and other supporters say they believe the pre-emption provision will pass constitutional muster.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol had raised concerns over the bill's removal of the "plain sight" provisions and were waiting to review the measure, said patrol Lt. Shawn P. Davis.
"We still have concerns about officer safety," Davis said.
Mark Rickel, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Bob Taft, said the governor also will review the proposal.
"But we still have some serious concerns," Rickel said. Taft remains concerned with the proposal's removal of requirements that a concealed-carry permit holder carry a gun in plain sight in a vehicle during traffic stops.
If the Ohio House passes the measure, it will have to be considered by the Ohio Senate.