Was told I'm not allowed to have a firearm in a hotel in OH

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I work in Canton OH and usually stay at the Hilton Garden Inn right by the airport. When I came back to my room tonight, I had a message. The message said that apparently I had a firearm in my room and that since this was against Ohio Law, I needed to put it in my car.

WIth the weather this cold, I was not OC'ing - although I have OC'd frequently here in the past. No one could have seen a firearm in my room as it was either on my person or in a locked case in a locked bag - so I'm not sure where they got the idea I had a firearm.....unless the maid didn't like the 3 boxes of ammo and holster I left on the desk.

www.Handgunlaw.us has a nice index to the laws and a quick search brought me to http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923 which says:
2923.121 Possession of firearm in liquor permit premises - prohibition, exceptions....(2) This section does not apply to any room used for the accommodation of guests of a hotel, as defined in section 4301.01 of the Revised Code.

This really PO'd me as I've been staying here since the hotel opened and we've spent at least $100K with this hotel in the past year or so.....I prinited off the page and attached one of the Ohio No Guns No Cash cards to the page and informed the front desk that it is legal to have a firearm in my room in OH and that the general manager needs to call me tomorrow and let me know if she was misinformed, or if she no longer wants my or my companies business. I'll let you know how this works out.....

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Do you have elite status with Hilton?

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Yes - Diamond VIP - I stay in Hiltons a lot...

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lprgcFrank wrote:

Yes - Diamond VIP - I stay in Hiltons a lot...

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That, along with the printed copy of the law, should give you significant leverage when you meet with the manager.

The good news is that, once you straighten this out, other gun owners who might not be quite as prepared as you will benefit.

Let us know what happens. We are all waiting anxiously!

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Sounds like you're on top of it. Let us know what they make of it.

-ljp

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Looks like you're on top of it.

Maybe you should find out where the manager got his/her information and make sure that source is enlightened so they can put other people on the right track!

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Had a preliminary conversation with the general manager - not straightened out yet.
Issue was maid saw 3 boxes of ammo and holster on the table and locked case and assumed there was a firearm in the locked case and brought to the attention of the general manager.

General manager is a Life member of the NRA and is generally supportive, but she is new and since this is a new hotel and this was the first time that an issue like this came up - was not sure what to do. She appreciated my providing a copy of the relevant Ohio code to support her request for clarification and guidance from her corporate management.

We had a good discussion, but since she has no precedence or guidance from corporate, yet, she asked for my patience while she gets direction. She understood that I have regularly OC'd in the hotel with no issues in the past. I think that she is dealing with an employee that is afraid of firearms and needs guidance for how to balance her obligations as an employer with my rights as a paying guest and needs help.

I made it very clear that a decision not to recognize my rights carries a significant financial impact to the hotel as I am currently scheduled to be back here next week and unless I get positive affirmation of my rights, I will no longer stay here, nor will I bring my companies business here. I also let her know that I would be posting this hotel as gun unfriendly and that others will also vote with their dollars.

She promised me an answer by the end of the day Friday so I can cancel the reservation without a penalty. I though that was reasonable and agreed to wait till Friday to make a decision.

I'll keep you posted.

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lprgcFrank wrote:

Had a preliminary conversation with the general manager - not straightened out yet.
Issue was maid saw 3 boxes of ammo and holster on the table and locked case and assumed there was a firearm in the locked case and brought to the attention of the general manager.

General manager is a Life member of the NRA and is generally supportive, but she is new and since this is a new hotel and this was the first time that an issue like this came up - was not sure what to do. She appreciated my providing a copy of the relevant Ohio code to support her request for clarification and guidance from her corporate management.

We had a good discussion, but since she has no precedence or guidance from corporate, yet, she asked for my patience while she gets direction. She understood that I have regularly OC'd in the hotel with no issues in the past. I think that she is dealing with an employee that is afraid of firearms and needs guidance for how to balance her obligations as an employer with my rights as a paying guest and needs help.

I made it very clear that a decision not to recognize my rights carries a significant financial impact to the hotel as I am currently scheduled to be back here next week and unless I get positive affirmation of my rights, I will no longer stay here, nor will I bring my companies business here. I also let her know that I would be posting this hotel as gun unfriendly and that others will also vote with their dollars.

She promised me an answer by the end of the day Friday so I can cancel the reservation without a penalty. I though that was reasonable and agreed to wait till Friday to make a decision.

I'll keep you posted.

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Good job. Giving her until Friday allows her to make sure that her chain of command understands the issue and the financial impact that a negative decision would have.

Keep up the good work on behalf of the gun owners of Ohio!

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This will be interesting. I work for the corporate side of a Fortune 100 company with over 230,000 employees worldwide. We stay at Hitlon chains a LOT. Every executivein our company I've talked to owns a firearm.

I don't see any issues when I Google. But I'll definitely not make a Hilton a priority if this turns out negative and there are other hotel options.

I know I can have an impact at where my company books.

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Ask if the hotel has a lock/safety deposit boxthat you could put the gun in during the day. I am currently staying at the Residence Inn in Choprus Christi, TX with no problems. Last weekend I went to tour Johnson Space Center in Houston and could not take the gun as part of the tour was on NASA itself. Asked the hotel if they had a safe and was shown that they had safety deposit boxes. Filled out a piece of paper and received the key. There was my key and the hotels key to the box. That was it. This may or may not be of help to you. The hotel manager was aware of what I was putting in the box and said there was no problem, they do it forcustomers who need it. Including us gun toters.

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Send this to the manager. Note what the prosecutor says.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5794deae-45ab-4bfe-a0e4-85a4d0b10b99

Use Of Deadly Force: Store Owners Fighting Back

Reported by: Brendan Keefe
Photographed by: Sean Dunster
Web produced by: Laura Hornsby

Armed robbers now face a potential penalty worse than prison time: death. But should store owners use their guns to act as judge, jury and executioner? Shots ring out on a downtown street. Police show up and take the shooter's gun away, but they don't arrest him. Why? Because the gunman was a store owner chasing a fleeing armed robber.
The law on this is fuzzy, but Hamilton County's prosecutor is crystal clear: victims will not be charged for fighting back.
Store owners and clerks have made easy targets for years. But now, an armed robber may end up staring down the barrel of a gun himself, especially in Hamilton County, where the victims are fighting back.
Wade Nassar's downtown convenience store was held up last November. He not only gave the gunman the cash, but also gave him a run for his money. "I want to kill him so bad," said Nassar. "I grab my gun, size 22, small bullet, the smallest gun, [and] 'bam! bam! bam!' I miss him."
The bullets hit trees and whizzed by a neighboring school. No one was hit, but the 61-year-old store owner faced the very real possibility of criminal charges himself for chasing the gunman out of the store after the danger had passed.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters decided not to charge Nassar, or Rufino Delangel, another store owner who opened fire on so-called "fleeing felons" that same month.
"They [shot at] me three times," said Delangel, "Then I [fired] back."
"I cannot fault someone who wants to defend themselves," Deters said. "I will not charge them in the defense of their business or their family or themselves."
Ohio law allows civilians to use deadly force only if they have a reasonable fear of imminent seriously bodily injury or death.
Retired Cincinnati police officer Tom Wood teaches his concealed carry students the law: you can not chase your attackers down the street.
"If your life is threatened, that's the only time you're allowed to shoot, if you're in mortal fear of losing your life - pull the trigger," said Wood. "That's what I would suggest. Don't go hunting."
But Joe Deters is the law in Hamilton County, and charging a store owner is a losing case. How does a prosecutor get 12 jurors to identify with the armed robber and not the hard-working robbery victim?
"If I don't believe we can win at trial, we can't charge people, and I won't charge people," said Deters.
Bob Mlinar didn't have a gun the night in July 2006 when he was shot by robbers at his Hamilton Avenue drive-thru. "His accomplice was standing over me, pointing the gun at me," explained Mlinar. They came back with their guns six months later. "I believe the one that shot me this time was the same one who shot me in July."
It happens fast: from customer to attacker in a split-second.
Sometimes the gunmen shoot first and ask questions later.
"If someone is using deadly force against you, you can use it back," Deters said. And that's what many store owners are doing- using hammers, baseball bats, and even axes.
And in a robbery of a Columbus motel, the desk clerk had a gun. He fires three times, hitting the armed robber with each shot. In that instance, a mother pulls her toddler out of the line of fire just in time.
"If you walk into a store with a gun in order to rob it, I believe you've forfeited your right not to be shot," Deters said.
So far, there has not been a local case of an innocent bystander shot by a pistol-packing store owner. Deters says he will deal with each case on an individual basis. But if this is a war, store owners are on the front lines. Many of them have taken up arms and have little reason to fear prosecution for pulling the trigger.
Copyright 2008 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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didn't get this resolved today - with the weather got stuck in travel hell yesterday and this morning and didn't get back with the GM - She did call me back and we have a call scheduled for Monday.

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I'm looking forward to seeing theoutcome of this one. You are representing the pro self-defense community well.

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I just got off an excellent call with the general manager. The corporate policy confirms that they have no issues with guests having a firearm in the hotel or OC'ing in common areas as supported by the appropriate state law.
:monkey

The hotel does reserve the right to ask a guest to keep the firearm appropriately secured if the guest is not in the room - for example - don't leave a loaded firearm under a pillow when you are not in the room. The hotel does not want a room attendant (maid) to have to handle a guests firearm in order to do their job.

In that case - they reserve the right to ask you to secure it yourself, put it in the hotel safe or take it to your car.

Since my firearm(s) were in a locked case when I was not in the room - that was appropriate.

Seemes pretty reasonable to me.

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I would hope no one would have a problem with a hotel asking you to keep it properly secured so their staff doesn't have to handle it. That sounds reasonable.

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lprgcFrank wrote:

I just got off an excellent call with the general manager. The corporate policy confirms that they have no issues with guests having a firearm in the hotel or OC'ing in common areas as supported by the appropriate state law.
:monkey

The hotel does reserve the right to ask a guest to keep the firearm appropriately secured if the guest is not in the room - for example - don't leave a loaded firearm under a pillow when you are not in the room. The hotel does not want a room attendant (maid) to have to handle a guests firearm in order to do their job.

In that case - they reserve the right to ask you to secure it yourself, put it in the hotel safe or take it to your car.

Since my firearm(s) were in a locked case when I was not in the room - that was appropriate.

Seemes pretty reasonable to me.

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Good job. I'm glad everthing got worked out.

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Sweet. Good news, because those are my favorite hotels to stay at and I'd have been let down to know I'd be boycotting them had they not approved of it.

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I should have mentioned that I also sent the corporate office a complimentary letter regarding the general manager for the professionalism that the GM showed in resolving this issue and keeping my companies business.