SB17 and HB45 have both been signed into law !!
Since Ohio passed a concealed handgun law in 2004, the rules for carry have been slowly getting better. The original law that stated that your gun had to be in plain sight while in a motor vehicle was improved in 2007. It really was kind of ridiculous in that any cop could 'interpret' "plain sight" during a traffic stop. People were doing all kinds of strange things like carrying in a belly band type holster strapped around their leg to keep it in "plain sight". Thus they would have to remove the holster from said appendage when leaving the vehicle and place the handgun in a concealed holster. The 2007 improvement allowed you to conceal your gun, thus reducing the risk of a discharge while moving it from holster to holster. It also allowed for other sane ways of carrying it in the vehicle i.e. : lockable case, bag, console or glove compartment.
SB17 has fixed that. Now it is up to us to determine where and how we keep our gun in the vehicle. To me, a dedicated vehicle gun should be in a holster mounted somewhere out of plain view.
The other half of the bill deals with being able to carry in restaurants that serve alcohol. As noted before (and completely falsified in the media) most states allow this, including every state surrounding Ohio. The media, of course, choose to go with the fear-mongering tactic of dubbing it the guns-in-bars bill. Consuming alcohol while carrying IS a felony.
You can check out an overview of these new laws
HERE
You can see a summary of the car carry changes
HERE
Remember that these change won't become law till the end of September ...
Labels: 2nd Amendment, CCW, Legislation
