“Gov. John Kasich signed a bill into law Monday that modifies the prohibition against carrying a concealed handgun onto institutions of higher education, daycare facilities, aircraft [?], certain government facilities, public areas of airport terminals, and school safety zones,” cleveland19.com reports. [Click here to read Senate Bill 199.] What the bill doesn’t do . . .
is repeal Ohio public educational institutions’ “gun free zones'” status. It simply makes them optional.
Board of Trustees at public universities and college campuses will have to vote in order to allow concealed firearms.
Cleveland 19 News reached out Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, the University of Toledo and the University of Akron. Monday evening a Kent State University spokesperson responded with this statement:
The potential passing of this bill was considered when our policy with regard to the possession, storage, or use of deadly weapons on campus was approved in September of this year. The current policy in place is representative of the university’s position on this issue.
If daycare facilities don’t want concealed firearms inside their buildings, they can post ‘weapon free zone’ signs, which the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence will mail out for free.
The bill — passed during a lame duck session of the Ohio legislature — prohibits employers from banning firearms stored in employees’ vehicles parked in a company lot.
Another big win: reduced sentences for permit holders caught carrying in a restricted area. First-time offenders will no longer face a felony charge. A violation is now a minor misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $150. At daycare centers, however, a violation becomes a first-degree misdemeanor, with scofflaws risking up to 180 days in jail and a $1k fine.
Also on the positive side, the antis are unhappy– which puts this one squarely in the win category.
“All of the credible information we have shows having civilians with concealed carry in active shooter situations doesn’t help,” said Jennifer Thorne, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence Executive Director. “It makes a really difficult job of determining who’s the bad guy and who isn’t that much harder.”
Thorne said she isn’t enthusiastic about any part of the new law, which goes into effect in 90 days.
“The package also prohibits employers from keeping guns out of cars in workplace parking lots and grants active-duty military — a group at increased risk of suicide — legal authority to carry hidden, loaded handguns without a permit,” she said.
I don’t the word credible means what Ms Thorne (by name and nature) thinks it means. Anyway, the new law take effect in 90 days.
How to play both sides of the electorate for fools:
Don’t blame us in the Legislature, we didn’t ban campus carry, the school trustees did it to you.
We didn’t put guns on campus, we just think school officials should make those decisions.
Seems mostly symbolic. I don’t see any real change coming in the near future, as far as colleges and universities in Ohio.
But if it gives the leftists another reason to throw a tantrum, it’s a win, however small.
Yeah, basically, allowing campus carry isn’t going to do anything. Absolutely none of the major campuses are going to allow people to carry. But that’s not all the bill did. Daycares, and public areas of airports very may well allow carry. Actually, the place where I went to get my CHL training was a small, local airport. We weren’t actually allowed to have guns in the building and now they might.
I think the biggest win is reducing the penalty for accidentally walking into the wrong place with a gun on your hip and forbidding employers from firing people for having a gun in their car in the parking lot. I mean, now you’ve gone from losing your second amendment entirely and having jail time, because you happened to walk into a second amendment free zone to only getting a fine.
Overall, it’s a good bill, it just didn’t do everything, which I never expected the Ohio legislature to anyway.
After thinking about this, I’m wondering if this law changes the legal ramifications for violating a college gun-free zone.
Formerly it was a violation of state law with, I presume, significant criminal penalties. If it’s merely a matter of campus policy, then about all they could do to a student is expel him (or terminate an employee).
Since I haven’t read the bill, I don’t know if the criminality of carrying on a gun-free campus has changed at all.
I see your point! And we now have a situation where a determined killer/terrorist who is not a student or employee of the university is free to carry as many guns and as much ammunition onto the campus as he thinks will be necessary for the number of murders he intends to commit. But woe be to anyone who may want the ability to defend themselves from him. Really bright.
And I don’t see your point LarryinTX? That situation existed before the bill too….
Hey LarryinTX maybe we should have a law that says terrorists can’t kill people. Then it won’t matter how many guns they bring into a campus.
Does the reduced penalty (from a felony) and the fine apply to all restricted areas including college campuses? If it does, were I a college student in Ohio, I’d carry and risk the ticket. F those chicken $hit politicians and the college officials.
The experience could be more ‘life changing’ than a mere ticket.
Across the border in Michigan, three ‘special schools’ believe their charters override state preemption on firearms bans, but at the other state universities it’s clearly legal to carry. That won’t stop WMU etc from expelling a student and keeping his tuition if they find out he has a gun on campus.
Worse than that, if a student is expelled for possessing a firearm on campus, legally or not, he will find it impossible to enroll at another accredited college. In other words, there goes his opportunity for an education.
You’re acting as if a non-STEM degree is anything other than a $100k-250k piece of paper conferring its holder lifetime employment at a food-service job of his/her/its choice.
You mean he’ll have to get a job as a plumber or an electrician and make a crap ton of money instead of being yet another business major work at Target? Sounds like a win win to me.
A bid to re-endear Kasich with the base. I have a feeling he pissed off more constituents with the heartbeat veto than he’ll gain with this….
See my post below about Kasich.
NO WE ARE NOT WINNING. Nothing more than a state government playing legal gymnastics to legitimize infringement. In other words government is passing your rights to lawfully self defend to a university. A failure of any governance.
And we all know that not a single college or university in Ohio is going to willingly allow concealed carry on campus.
Jennifer Thorne needs to look up the word “credible” in the dictionary. I don’t think it means, what she thinks it means. While she’s at it, she might also look up “liar”, “falsehood”, and maybe do a quick Wicki search on Joseph Goebbels.
“All of the credible information we have shows having civilians with concealed carry in active shooter situations doesn’t help, because we believe any information disproving our theories is not credible. We also believe unicorns shoot from my anus when I fart” said Jennifer Thorne, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence Executive Director.
I would suggest Jennifer Thorne, (Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, Executive Director) look up the word “credible” in the dictionary. I don’t think it means, what she thinks it means. While she’s at it, she might also look up “liar”, “falsehood”, and maybe do a quick Wicki search on Joseph Goebbels.
“It makes a really difficult job of determining who’s the bad guy and who isn’t that much harder.”
If everybody in the room is armed, the bad guy is probably the dead one or at least the one with the most bullet wounds. Simple.
“All of the credible information we have shows having civilians with concealed carry in active shooter situations doesn’t help,”
OK then. Do you have any credible information showing it causes harm?
How dare you ask a logical question? FASCIST!
It’s always amazed me how a slight infraction or mistake with regards to carry is a felony off the bat. Or other gun laws for that matter. They run it up the pole as a 2A denying offense while robbers and thieves plead down.
Say what you will about Kasich – he’s not perfect but he is WAY more pro-firearm ownership than most Republican governors. I’m from Ohio and we have had anti-gun governors in my 50 years of being on this earth including the very anti-gun Gov. Bob Taft who was a Republican.
Here is what John Kasich, who has a welcoming open door to the Buckeye Firearms Association & NRA, has signed into law:
1) The end to the over 30-rounds magazine ban which was an “unknown” felony for years in Ohio. “Hi-cap” magazines over 30 rounds were always legal to buy in Ohio BUT not legal to insert into a semi-auto firearm (unless it was .22LR/SHORT/LONG) or the gun was classified as a “dangerous ordnance” and it was a 5th degree felony since the late 90s unless you had a Dangerous Ordnance license (was a misdemeanor before that) – NFA firearms were exempt if they were registered. Anyway, it is GONE and you can now load a beta mag in an AR-15 and open carry all day long now. Thank you John Kasich!
2) Suppressors are now legal to hunt with in Ohio. Thank you John Kasich!
3) Although not an issue now, Sheriffs were forced to sign NFA paperwork as long as the applicant did not have a record. Thank you John Kasich!
4) Concealed carry has been improved MANY times in the favor of the gun owner. Thank you John Kasich!
5) Kasich supported open carry at the Republican Convention. Most Republican governors WOULD HAVE CRACKED UNDER PRESSURE! Thank you John Kasich!
6) We can now hunt deer with rifles chambered in many straight walled rifle cartridges instead of just shotguns with slugs. Thank you John Kasich!
7) Workers can now leave their guns in their car and have protection to and from work. Don’t think that that is a big deal??? Google crime stats in Youngstown, Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, etc.. and then ask all of those steel and factory workers who could not carry in the past but have to drive through high crime areas to get to work if they feel that this is important. Thank you John Kasich!
8) Campus Carry – yes its isn’t mandated BUT it’s a starting point to work on and if you know anything about Ohio gun rights history, you will know that we have been VERY good at starting with little and ending up with a lot. Thank you again John Kasich!
Kasich was improving our gun rights back when Trump was calling for “assault weapon” and hi-cap” magazine bans only three or four years ago. Hopefully, Trump has truly turned around – we shall see. Ohio is one of the BEST states for gun ownership and FAR better than many southern and western states – don’t believe the articles especially the one done annually from Guns & Ammo which places states like Virginia in front of Ohio for gun rights – horribly wrong. We have also been only second to Texas in machine-gun ownership for many years.
In the context of gun rights Kasich is better than most. As a true conservative, he leaves a lot to be desired in every other area.
Ohio is a strange place, guns in private aircraft? If I own my own plane why would they have any position or care if I take a gun on board? I guess there is always some busybody elected idiot who has to mess with freedom, just because he (or she) can.