For months, Ohio Senate Bill 17 has been known as the “restaurant carry” bill—but there’s much more to this legislation than concealed carry in restaurants that serve alcohol. I eat in restaurants about twice a month, but I carry a pistol in my car several hours each day. When SB17 becomes law, the rules governing vehicle carry will, thanks to the bill’s authors, become safer, simpler, and fairer. The remainder of this short article is devoted to the details of the new vehicle carry rules under SB17.
At a recent CHL training class I conducted, students practiced proper procedure during police encounters. With the help of a police officer (the husband of a student in the class), students were challenged to role-play a traffic stop while armed. Our guest LEO began the exercise with this statement: “Just as you practice marksmanship and handgun safety, you need to practice encounters with law enforcement. More CHL holders will end up in trouble as a result of a technicality during a routine traffic stop than because of an actual self-defense scenario involving your handgun.”
Though I had no statistics to support or refute the officer’s statement, it struck me as wise. After all, there’s an excellent chance we might never have to draw a handgun in self-defense, but there are always many things that can go wrong for an Ohio CHL holder during a routine traffic stop—most involving the manner in which the handgun is worn, transported or handled. The current law is complex and cumbersome, requiring the CHL holder to be aware of an array of definitions and details. Ohio is the only state that places this burden on concealed carry licensees.
Continue reading at Ohioans for Concealed Carry
