May 24
Thursday
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OFCC Sues City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio The sign you see here is posted in Cleveland Heights Parks implying possession of a firearm is a crime. On Friday August 12th, 2011 Ohioans For Concealed Carry Filed a lawsuit against the City the City of Cleveland Heights. The litigation comes after many attempts to resolve concerns over laws that Cleveland Heights not only allowed to remain on their books, but also posted signs at their parks that continue to imply it is illegal to be armed. The City of Cleveland Heights has chosen to ignore our attempts at civil discourse. When individuals have contacted them representing themselves as residents of the City of Cleveland Heights their concerns apparently fell on deaf ears. When representatives of the organization have formally contacted the city's legal representation they've been laughed at and hung up on by the Law Director. It is this arrogance and refusal to work with Ohioans For Concealed Carry that has forced us to seek a remedy through the courts.
Our press release follows.
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Canton PD Event Leads to New OFCC Legislation When officer Harless of the Canton, Ohio police department came upon a vehicle stopped in the roadway most of us were focused on getting restaurant carry legislation signed into law. What took place that evening has become an international viral video, calls for the resignation of the City Council president, and criminal charges against a man who is clearly heard trying to state that he has a license. Ohioans For Concealed Carry has not just raised thousands of dollars in a legal defense fund, but we've written legislation to resolve this matter that Representative Danny Bubp has stated he's going to introduce this fall Read the Full Story

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Substitute House Bill 347 Changes AND Hearing Audio


The Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee adopted Substitute House Bill 347 today, which includes various changes. Thanks to the efforts of a regular OFCC Volunteer who has been recording hearings for us, we can report the following. Please note that this information is believed to be accurate, but not verified against the actual language of the substitute bill yet.

Excellent sponsor testimony was provided by Representative Jim Aslanides. Rep. Aslanides did a great job of describing the changes that are taking place in HB347. That testimony can be heard here: Substitute HB347 Testimony (MP3, ~20 minutes)

UPDATED: The Legislative Services Commission has uploaded the official version of Sub HB347 with the actual amendments applied to the bill. You can download it here: downloaded here This document is now also only 172k as opposed to 11 megabytes.

To read the changes in a summarized list, please continue reading.

  • The Sheriff will not be required to notify licensees of expiration. (not in existing law)

  • The penalty of possession of a loaded firearm in a car will be increased to a 4th degree felony. (Assumed non CHL holders)

  • Failure to immediatly notify a stopping officer of a concealed weapon is raised to a third degree misdemeanor. (new)

  • The affirmative defense for discharging a firearm for self protection is removed. This may mean that you can be charged with discharging a firearm in the city limits if you defend your self.

  • The new bill still permits the newspapers to have access to ccw lists. (details unknown)

  • The new definition of a loaded firearm has been removed

    On the positive side:

  • Pre-emption has survived. To what degree is yet unknown.

  • The substitute bill provides for the issuance of ccw to people with expunged records. (OFCC has pushed hard for this)

  • Requires all sheriffs’ offices to be open at least 15 hours per week.

  • There has been a safe harbor provision added to permit the licensee to have someone else hold their gun if they should choose to drink.

    And finally, a huge win that OFCC has orchestrated since this was introduced in the legislation. With the help of at least two or three non-citizen license holders who were outraged OFCC saw that the committee heard ample testimony on this situation. The citizenship issue has been removed from HB347:

  • The requirement for US citizenship in the original bill has been removed.