Toledo
Blade...
Ohio House OKs
concealed-carry in bars, eateries
By Jim Provance
COLUMBUS -- Both sides conceded that “alcohol and guns don’t mix,” but
the Ohio House Wednesday voted to allow carrying hidden handguns into
bars and alcohol-serving restaurants, nightclubs, and outdoor arenas.
Republicans on this one were alone in pushing constitutional and
self-defense arguments. They said the bill would bar permit holders
from drinking at the establishments or being under the influence of
alcohol when they got there. Democrats argued that the bill would add a
dangerous element to what already could be a volatile situation.
House Bill 54 passed 56-40 and goes to the GOP-controlled Senate, which
has passed a similar bill.
“In those bars mentioned, individuals are carrying weapons illegally
right now,” said Rep. Danny Bubp (R., West Union), a former Marine.
“What this bill does is allow ... anyone who’s got a concealed-carry
permit to be able to carry in there and be able to protect themselves
and their family.
Two Republicans joined 38 Democrats in opposing the bill. One of them
was freshman Rep. Todd Mc- Kenny, a National Rifle Association member
from the Akron suburbs who said he realized he was probably handing
ammunition to an election rival next year with his vote.
He unsuccessfully pushed a proposed amendment that would have stripped
the alcohol establishment provisions from the bill.
“I want you to consider the darkest, dankest, nastiest bar you know …,”
he said. “Now I want you to picture that place at 1 a.m. on Saturday
night when it is a packed-out crowd, and it is dark, and it’s loud, and
the music is thumping, the lights are flashing…,” he said. “Take your
focus off the concealed-carry [permit-holders]. … I believe they will
not drink,” he said. “But what we’re doing is putting them into an
inherently dangerous environment.”
The vote was a foregone conclusion as indicated by last December’s
House vote to force the bill out of a Democratic-controlled committee
onto the chamber floor.
But after that, the Democratic leadership at the time brought the
two-year legislative session to a close to prevent an up or down vote.
Republicans now control the chamber, and it was only a matter of time
before the measure would pass.
The bill would allow someone who has a concealed-carry permit to take
his gun with him into a bar, restaurant, or other business with a
liquor license as long as the gun owner isn’t drinking or under the
influence.
Mr. Bubp noted that about 40 other concealed-carry states allow
permit-holders to carry weapons into restaurants that serve alcohol.
More than 200,000 Ohioans have permits for concealed firearms.
Private business owners still have the right under the concealed-carry
law to post signs declaring their properties off limits to guns.
The bill would repeal current requirements that a legally carried,
loaded handgun must be secured in a holster on the permit-holder, glove
compartment, or some other closed container kept in plain sight while
it is transported in a motor vehicle.
All Democrats opposed the bill. The sole other Republican “no” vote
belonged to freshman Rep. Mike Duffey (R., Worthington).
The bill is opposed by the Ohio Restaurant Association and some law
enforcement organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police,
Ohio Chiefs of Police Association, and Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys
Association.
A second, less controversial bill also passed the chamber to align Ohio
law with less restrictive federal law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
The move would ease restrictions on Ohioans with minor criminal
convictions to legally petition for the right to receive a gun permit.
Read it at the Toledo Blade
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