Man Facing Felony Charges After His Gun is Seen While Cheering

Update: We have found no information on what happened after his court appearance.

Imagine you are sitting in a high school gym, watching a wrestling tournament when you see a gun pop out from under a guy’s t-shirt as he jumps into the air.

That’s exactly what happened outside of Columbus, Ohio, over the weekend, and now the guy is going to have a lot of explaining to do. Someone took a photo of the incident showing the man with his arms in the air and his gun is in plain view sticking out of his waistband.

Police found out after the event was over, and they issued a warrant for the 37-year-old. In Ohio, it doesn’t matter if the gun was real or a fake because either way, it’s a potential felony.

They charged him with “Illegal conveyance or possession of deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance or of object indistinguishable from firearm in school safety zone,” which is a fifth-degree felony.

Ohio code Section 2923.122 – Illegal conveyance or possession of deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance or of object indistinguishable from firearm in school safety zone.

(A) No person shall knowingly convey, or attempt to convey, a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance into a school safety zone.

(B) No person shall knowingly possess a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in a school safety zone.

(C) No person shall knowingly possess an object in a school safety zone if both of the following apply:

(1) The object is indistinguishable from a firearm, whether or not the object is capable of being fired.

(2) The person indicates that the person possesses the object and that it is a firearm, or the person knowingly displays or brandishes the object and indicates that it is a firearm.

I am not advocating carrying in a gun-free zone, but you should always be responsible no matter where you carry. Even if this was a legal location, is having your firearm flopping around for everyone to see a good idea, especially when children are everywhere?

If this was an open carry situation and his firearm was already out in the open, then the shock factor would not be there. But this goes from no one knowing you have a gun to “Hey, look at me!” in a split second. Ohio is in the process of loosening restrictions and allowing constitutional carry, so use some common sense and don’t get your picture plastered all over the national news.