Posted on 12/04/2002 6:28:15 AM PST by MissTargets
FOP withdraws opposition to bill
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS - The state's largest police union won't oppose a new version of a bill to allow Ohioans to carry hidden guns, but Gov. Bob Taft still backs the Ohio State Highway Patrol's demand that drivers and their passengers not be allowed to carry them, his spokesman said Tuesday.
The signal from the Fraternal Order of Police marked the first time the group has not opposed the idea since 1995, Columbus Police Sgt. Mike Taylor said. Taft says he won't support a bill that police groups oppose. The Senate Civil Justice Committee accepted a substitute version of the bill the House passed in March. It makes major changes in who may apply for a permit to carry concealed weapons and how law enforcement checks those applicants.
The bill would authorize Ohio's sheriffs to issue permits to carry concealed weapons to residents who pass a criminal background check and take an approved safety course. Ohio would become the 44th state with some form of permission to carry hidden guns.
The bill's future, though, is still uncertain. With only five legislative days before the current session of the Legislature ends, the House would have to agree to the Senate changes and Taft would either have to sign the bill or allow it to become law without his signature.
Taft spoke with representatives of law enforcement groups about his concerns about the bill, spokesman Joe Andrews said. He wants to add requirements to offer trigger locks when a gun is sold and information about the safe storage of weapons, Andrews said. Gun owners would not be required to buy locks or store their weapons at home, he said.
Taft also wants to keep concealed weapons out of vehicles, Andrews said. The patrol, which ultimately reports to Taft, believes current law that allows drivers and passengers to leave guns on seats with ammunition nearby is enough, patrol spokesman Lt. John Born said.
However, conservatives in the Senate and House could balk at including such a provision.
''That's a deal-killer,'' said Sen. Lynn Wachtmann, a Napoleon Republican and co-sponsor of the Senate version of the bill.
The Senate version would require fingerprinting of applicants - an idea opposed by many House Republicans - and would prohibit permits for those who have assaulted a police officer even if the charge was a misdemeanor, a major FOP concern.
The changes also include allowing employers - public or private - to dictate whether people can carry hidden guns on their premises and ordering the attorney general to produce information on when Ohio law permits a person to use deadly force. It also sets at 12 hours the length of a required gun safety course.
Sen. Jim Jordan, an Urbana Republican and gun-rights advocate, was not happy that applicants would have to be fingerprinted but said that requiring sheriffs to destroy the prints within 20 days made the provision easier to accept.
''Overall, if we can get a concealed carry bill that's reasonable, I think it's a step in the right direction and a win for Ohioans,'' Jordan said.
Senate hearings had stopped when the state appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court a ruling declaring Ohio's concealed weapons law unconstitutional. The 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled April 10 that the state's ban violated the state Constitution's guarantee that people can arm themselves for self-defense.
The Supreme Court, however, has kept the ban in effect while it considers the case and no ruling is expected before the end of the legislative session, so backers urged the Senate to resume hearings
Why? CW permit holders are generally more law-abiding than police officers generally. Maybe the officers would like a database of known non-problems?
Clear violation of the First Amendment. Churches should be allowed to set their own policy.
The OACOP is composed of people appointed to their positions by politicians. Their judgements are political, not job-based.
"Every time an officer stops a driver, even for a minor traffic stop, the officer will have to assume ... that a loaded gun may be on the person, under the front seat, in a purse or in the glove compartment," he said.
Don't they anyway? The officers I know make that assumption - and feel better about a person having a gun legally then one who panics because he's been caught with one illegally.
I would think that any police officer would assume that now.
The oppostion was worse. I had to hold my nose to vote for this RINO.
My State Rep.(Democrat) was a co-sponsor, on this bill. My State Senator,(also a Democrat)is for CCW. Both had high ratings with the NRA.
Then you have Taft, former Governor Voinovich (now a Senator), who vetoed CCW when he was in office, and Senator DeWine, another John McCain.
I heard on the news, that a spokesperson, for the Catholic churches, was telling members to oppose CCW
And that should affect how the Baptists, for example, set their policy how?
Maybe I'm missing something here, but this would essentially make it almost impossible to exercise CCW. If you can't carry concealed in your vehicle, then you won't be able to carry outside your vehicle if you've driven somewhere. Why? Because you'd have to "display" your firearm in order to holster it in your carry holster when you got to your destination. That would be a violation of law in most places where "open" carry is not allowed. The only way around this would be to use a fanny pack, which is not always a preferred carry method (if you are in business attire, for instance).
Sounds like Taft is looking to set up potential CCW holders with a nasty Catch-22 situation.
It doesn't make much sense. You can drive down the road with a gun on the front seat, with ammo somewhere else. But, they don't want it to be loaded, and concealed. Taft doesn't want this bill passed, plain and simple. I understand, that the Ohio State Patrol, does not have the policing powers that other State police have. They are just traffic cops.
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