The Courier Electronic Edition

Concealed carry


The Ohio House and Senate have both passed a concealed carry reform bill this week, ending nearly a year of gridlock and promising to make state gun laws consistent and more fair.Unfortunately, Gov. Bob Taft has pledged to veto the compromise law because it would overrule gun control ordinances in about 20 Ohio cities, such as Columbus, which has an assault weapons ban.

In the past the governor had objected to the bill because the Ohio Highway Patrol didn't want to give up a requirement that registered handguns be kept in plain sight during traffic stops. The patrol now has agreed to drop the requirement in exchange for increasing the penalty to a first-degree misdemeanor for any motorist who fails to inform a police officer that there is a gun in his vehicle. The penalty would include a two-year suspension of the violator's gun permit.

So now the governor needs a new reason to object. He and several prominent Democrats including Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman and Cleveland State Sen. Eric Fingerhut have found that reason in "home rule." Home rule is based on the Ohio Constitution's Article XVIII: "Municipalities shall have authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within their limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations as are not in conflict with general laws."

The "general law" in this case might be the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment states that "... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Of course, states and the federal government have passed numerous laws regulating where and how guns are to be carried and used. At present, municipalities can do the same, under the above-named condition.

But Ohio's concealed carry law really ought to be statewide in nature, as noted by Sen. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana. "We can't have local governments apply different standards when dealing with a constitutional right," he said.

The practical objections to having a patchwork system of concealed carry laws are significant as well. Imagine a person driving around the state to do his job, as many in sales and other professions do. He has a permit to carry a concealed weapon -- but with different laws in many communities, he might find himself in violation of the law without even knowing it. The only way to avoid that situation would be to research the laws of each community in advance, and then decide whether he can legally carry a weapon based on his itinerary of the day. That effectively removes his right to carry a weapon.

Local gun ordinances may seem to be rational and needed -- such as those prohibiting people with gun permits from bringing weapons to playgrounds and parks. But the reality is that such laws won't stop drug dealers and other criminals from carrying guns to parks. People who bother to get a permit to carry a gun are almost always people who obey the law. Concealed carry has not resulted in an increase in crime in any of the 40 states that have chosen to allow it over the past 19 years. The people we should fear are those who don't have permits but who routinely flout the law.

A permit to carry a gun needs to be valid throughout the state or it is largely worthless. We urge the governor to rethink his position and sign this legislation, which the Ohio Highway Patrol now accepts.

If he refuses to do so, there is a good chance that the Legislature will be able to override the veto -- as it should do.