Home » Recent News » New Bill Proposed to Loosen Ohio Gun Laws
New Bill Proposed to Loosen Ohio Gun Laws
Presently, if a license holder is pulled over by a police officer, he or she is required to inform the officer if there is a gun in the vehicle. This would no longer be necessary.
Maag has found several problems with current legislation. Out-of-state concealed weapon permit holders may not be aware of Ohio legislation and not many states require such a declaration.
“Officers have a set spiel,” Maag said. “If they get interrupted, it’s been reported to me that they get angry and don’t make it possible for the person to make a prompt declaration.”
Opposition to this bill is based on the idea that declaring a gun in the vehicle right away makes the situation safer for the officer and the driver.
“Most officers know the person is a concealed carry holder when the officer runs the license number and if the motorist forgets to inform the law enforcement officer they are carrying a firearm, the officer is not going to cite them,” Pat Kelly, Athens Sheriff said. “What the officer does not know is if the person has the weapon with them at that time.”
This bill, in general, worries officials. While an officer is aware whether or not the driver is a concealed weapon carrier upon running the vehicle’s plates, it doesn’t work if the driver is not the owner of the car.
“I am disappointed that the sponsors of this bill would place an inconvenienced motorist before officer safety,” Kelly said.
The bill does not prohibit an officer from asking the driver if there is a gun in the vehicle.
Maag proposes a second bill, making it legal for people to bring guns into the Statehouse parking garage. The bill would not, however, end the ban on guns in the Statehouse itself or other state-owned buildings.
Security is unsure about this proposal, claiming they have it under control and if an emergency occurred they would be able to respond in time.
Maag feels his personal safety is at risk because he is forced to leave his gun at home.
“I don’t think anybody can tell me what time I might need a gun,” said Maag. “If you knew that, you wouldn’t carry one except for that minute.”
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3 Comments
Both of these proposals are ridiculous.
First, the Statehouse garage is also used for the Supreme Court, the Senate, and the Governor. The garage connects the Huntington Bank, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Governor’s offices and its all on one concentrated walkway. Absolutely no need for guns in that location.
Here’s my question to Representative Maag, how did you get your district at 0% unemployment? Oh, that’s right it isn’t at 0% unemployment – so why the hell are we wasting time debating the place of guns in a parking garage instead of crafting job-focused legislation to get Ohio back to work?
Well, @John, I see what you mean, but a single state representative has little to do with the unemployment level (which will hopefully never drop as low as 0%) and even aside from that, why on earth should all non-economic legislation stop simply because the recovery is painstakingly slow? This taking-their-eye-off-the-ball argument that both Democrats and Republicans (and independents) are offering whenever the other side brings up an issue not directly tied to jobs is juvenile and ill-informed.
Aside from that, these both seem like relatively minor changes. We’ll see if the bills make it through the process.
The tax increases won’t be edefrred for a few years they’ll kick in quickly, and there’s no consitutional questions there. The new investment surtax is another bullet fired at America’s savers. One has to wonder why anyone would bother working hard to do well in school, get a good job, and save for the future. Washington to high-achievers: spend everything you earn on conspicuous consumption, because if you save your money, we’ll take it through inflation, taxes, or both. I wonder if we’ll see a wave of retirements among high-income professionals with enough savings to do so and yet another reason not to keep working. Dual-income couples will have a good reason for one spouse to stop working, if it gets them below the government’s new income limits. The effective marginal tax rate for anyone with savings will be higher than in Canada if you live in a high-tax state like California or New York. A thousand small John Galt moments could be unleashed.Reply