Ohio House Approves Expanding Locations Where Permit Holders Can Carry Concealed Firearms

A new bill in Ohio has passed the House and could become law if it continues it’s forward momentum. The bill, House Bill 48, looks to expand the current locations where a person with a concealed carry permit can legally carry a firearm.

The new places would include airports, police stations and day care centers. While many are for the new bill, some feel that it will cause more problems than it will solve.

One of those people is John Gilchrist, who is the legislative counsel for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.

“Why should police put themselves at risk from those who arrive at a police station with no intention to do harm, but who, for whatever reason, become angry over some issue and have on them the means to do harm?” Gilchrist said.

Mr. Gilchrist seems to be under the impression that a law-abiding concealed carrier will snap at a moment’s notice, and would rather throw the entire group into the ‘possible criminal’ category than recognize and appreciate that every single concealed carrier in Ohio has jumped through the hoops to show that they are fit to carry that firearm.

Round and round we go.

If passed, the bill would also allow concealed carriers to carry into ‘school safety zones’, provided they leave the firearm inside their locked vehicle. Currently, only a permit holder can carry in these locations, but only if picking up or dropping off a student.

Additionally, the bill would allow universities to adopt their own policies regarding concealed carry on campus. If a university does not adopt a policy, a permit holder carrying their firearm on campus would be slapped with a misdemeanor charge.

Onto the Senate it goes.