Understanding Ohio Gun Laws?

by **andor25** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:48 am

I've researched modern gun laws in the state of Ohio, and I need some clarification from someone who thoroughly understands them.

I am 21 years old, I live in Ohio, and I am not a criminal, drug addict, or lunatic.
I also do not have a concealed carry permit.

Is it legal for me to...
1- Go into public with a loaded handgun in plain sight on my waist with no papers but my ID
2- Go into public carrying a loaded shotgun or rifle
3- Keep a shotgun or rifle loaded and ready in my car
4- Carry a handgun loaded and ready in plain sight with me in my car (unloaded and in a box when I leave it)
5- Own a silencer
6- Carry a handgun with a silencer on it in public
7- Have a gun unloaded and safely tucked away in a box in my car in a parking lot of a place where a "no gun" sign is displayed or a school property or other places like that.
8- Own a high powered sniper rifle

by **cruz50** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:56 am

I am not a lawyer, and apparently no one else here is either. I have spent a lot of time looking over Ohio's firearms laws, which I'll try to summarize and cite here. For further information on all these topics, see Ohioans For Concealed Carry at http://ohioccw.org and http://ohioccwforums.org

>1- Go into public with a loaded handgun in plain sight on my waist with no papers but my ID
>2- Go into public carrying a loaded shotgun or rifle
>3- Keep a shotgun or rifle loaded and ready in my car

Open, unconcealed carry of firearms is unregulated by the State. You may carry anything that you may legally own. Beware of school zones, jails and prisons, alcohol serving establishments, federal buildings.
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/gp9.68

>3- Keep a shotgun or rifle loaded and ready in my car
>4- Carry a handgun loaded and ready in plain sight with me in my car (unloaded and in a box when I leave it)

Firearms transported in a motor vehicle must be unloaded at all times. Unloaded means magazines and speed loaders emptied. Concealed Handgun Licensees are exempt for their legally carried handgun and matching magazines/speed loaders.
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923.16

>5- Own a silencer
>6- Carry a handgun with a silencer on it in public

No citation for this. I believe they are unrestricted by the State, and merely require an ATF tax stamp of some kind to be in compliance with Federal laws. This should only cost money. Any accessory you can legally own you can carry in Ohio.

>7- Have a gun unloaded and safely tucked away in a box in my car in a parking lot of a place where a "no gun" sign is displayed or a school property or other places like that.

This is complicated as schools are a special "no-guns" area and different from all others. Firearms are prohibited on all school property except for a Concealed Handgun Licensee in a vehicle dropping off or picking up a student. You may store a firearm in a vehicle in a State, County, or City parking lot, for example if you had to go to city hall to pay taxes. Private property is all the same and they can prohibit your firearm with or without signs under penalty of trespassing.
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923.122

>8- Own a high powered sniper rifle

Depends what your definition of high-powered is. Semiauto rifles are legal in Ohio. I don't believe there is a caliber restriction for ownership. Hunting is another matter.

In all open-carry scenarios, expect a police encounter and perhaps even harassment, arrest, and jail. While this is a legal activity, it isn't very popular, and it's quite likely that people, including the police, are unaware. Check out OhioCCWForums.org for open-carry information as well.

by **jordi** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:00 am

1. Be arrested
2. Be Arrested
3. Nothing happens.
4. Nothing Happens
5. Federal Prison
6. Federal Prison for longer time
7. Car seized, gun seized, you go to jail
8. Nothing Happens

by **yehudi** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:04 am

8 is the only yes the rest r no

by **fiacre68** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:13 am

Rayven gave very good answers, up until #8. There is no restriction on "high power sniper rifle" ownership, as the term by itself is like saying "high horsepower car". It means nothing by itself. ANY rifle can be used as a sniper weapon, although there are purpose-built rifles for military and police use. As long as they are not fully automatic weapons (none of the sniper models are) they are legal to own by any US citizen that is able to own weapons, regardless of caliber.

The silencer stuff, 5 and 6, are both felonies at the Federal level. You can go through the permit process from BATFE, but it is hardly worth the effort and cost. They were banned by the Gun Control Act of 1968. Now you have to know now to make a field expedient, one shot silencer.

by **teyrnon72** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:19 am

1) Yes. Ohio is an open carry state, meaning you need no permit to carry openly and you can carry it fully loaded. Since the passage of HB-12, which eliminated the various local gun laws (preemption - only the state's legislature can make gun laws now), you are completely legal to OC if you are legal to own the gun in the first place.

2) No. Although you can carry one unloaded. I'd suggest you don't do that unless you are transporting it.

3) No. From what I understand, you can't even do that with a permit.

4) No. The gun and the ammo need to be in separate containers and not be available to anyone directly together. Your best bet would be one goes in the trunk, the other in the passenger compartment.

5) No silencer.

6) Have fun with your felony! :)

7) You can have the gun in separate compartments (see #4) to transport it from a place you can have it to another place you can have it. Private property that prohibits it wouldn't work, and schools are an absolute no in Ohio.

8) Yes, if you pass the legal tests in both Ohio and the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol. Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives).

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