Representative Aslanides Introduces HB347: HB12 Reform Legislation

Written by Daniel White

Tuesday, 20 September 2005

Ohioans For Concealed Carry is pleased to announce that we can now share with you legislation that has been drafted to reform Ohio's seventeen-month old concealed carry law. House Bill 347 was introduced today! The Associated Press has already issued a wire story about this (practically the same thing they ran last week) -- but , the bill is getting another mention that you'll see in Wednesday's papers. Last week OFCC was asked not to publicize Jim Aslanides' bill, and we respected that request as we always have in years past. It is our understanding that other versions of this legislation made public on the Internet earlier were either incomplete or earlier versions of the drafting process. In the interim, OFCC has created a table of contents to help navigate this legislation. You can download the PDF here: Fixit Legislation (3.7Mb ~ Requires Adobe Acrobat or another PDF Reader) A "clean" version of the bill can be taken from the State of Ohio's website here: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText126/126_HB_347_I_Y.pdf This version of the PDF will open to page 94, which is a table of contents (and brief synopsis of each change) authored by Ohioans For Concealed Carry. To make navigating the bill easier like we did with verison of HB12, you can click on links within the Table of Contents. The TOC was appended to this document so that the page numbers printed in the bill would match with the pages numbers reported by Acrobat. Clicking on a page number or the Ohio Revised Code will jump to that page in the fix-it legislation. Clicking on the text to the right will take you to the State of Ohio's website and Anderson's publishing, where the current law can be found for comparison. (Click 'READ MORE' for a summary...) As we reported last week, some key issues to be addressed are: Statewide preemption to prevent a patchwork of local gun laws Removes the plain sight requirement for a CHL holder carrying a firearm in a motor vehicle The license fee would increase to $55, but the license would be good for 5 year Renewal notices would be sent by county sheriff's as a reminder when your license is due to expire Affirmative defense for discharge of a firearm from a vessel or motor vehicle if the act was for self-defense Provides a definition for a "loaded firearm" as actually containing ammunition in the firearm and specifically denotes a firearm as unloaded if ammunition is merely near the firearm Removes the penalty for not revealing certain sealed criminal records on the CHL application if they were mistakenly omitted Specifies the exact form the CHL application must take Specifies that a CHL applicant must be a US citizen Gives sheriffs the discretion to ignore sealed or expunged records and issue a CHL as if the records didn't exist Requires sheriffs to accept applications for a license during all normal business hours without restrictions Allows for a CHL holder to convey into a courthouse a firearm in order to turn the firearm over to any officer in charge of the facility Allows for a CHL to be renewed up to 90 days before the expiration date Allows for a CHL holder to file a statement with the sheriff that he/she has reasonable cause to fear a criminal attack upon his/her person or a family member if his/her name, county of residence, and date of birth is released to journalists requiring the sheriff to deny auch requests for disclosure The background check will include an FBI records check and more.... This document may be redistributed so long as Ohioans For Concealed Carry is attributed as the source and no modifications are made to the document.