imported post
Dan,
Your question is an easy one to answer. Ohio law has preemption, meaning that cities,counties, townships cannot make laws that are different to the ORC when it comes to firearms. The ORC you need to look up is 9.68, which spells it out. Additionally, you can OC in Ohio, just make sure you are not OC'ing while in a car. In a car, even if the gun is in plain sight, it is considered concealed and you will be charged accordingly. The way to transport a handgun in a car, w/o a CHL is to unload the firearm and magazine and ensure the firearm and ammo are in seperate parts of the car, one being in a position that the occupiants must leave the car to obtain, namly, in a trunk, or if it is an suv or van, in the farthest part of the car. It is perfectly legal to walk down the street with your M&P .40 in a holster, as long as it is not concealed in any way. Do not use a military style flap holster, those have been a grey area. Make sure no part of the firearm is covered by your clothing, or now that it is winter, your jacket. Improtant thing to remember, carry a voice recorder. Although it is legal to OC, in some places you will be given a hard time. There was an incident in Lima where a guy was arrested for OC'ing, and they basically agreed to drop the charges against him if he would not seek legal action against the city. A good resourse is
http://www.ohioccwforums.org/ Although geared for CCW, it is a great place to get information on Ohio laws, 9.68 and even OC. Another site I like is defensivecarry.com
I would encourage you to go ahead and get your CHL. Even with all the gun buster signs, it would still allow you to carry a loaded handgun in your car, will make it so your not an instant law breaker if your shirt or jacket covers your firearm by accident and it will also add another member to the ranks of Ohioans with a license to carry.
I mix up OC and CC, just depends on my mood and who I am around. I enjoy the best of both worlds. To me, I almost feel naked when I OC, thinking everyone is looking at me, and I am a bit more nervous, but I do get comfortable and not worry so much after time goes on, and for me, its the same each time I do it. It also is so liberating.
Good Luck.
dawson wrote:
Hello all ,
Name here is Dan, I have been shooting firearms for some time , never really got into the idea of CC due to all the singage around my parts of restricting firearms. I have been reading through alot of things and also watching the videos supplied by others. Now it'smy understanding that it is legal to OC but local ordinances may deem it ILLEGAL to OC. I was wondering if there is anywhere I can lookup my towns ordinances to find out if its illegal? And if stopped by an officer should I just tell him it's my right and it's legal in the state of ohio.
I enjoy walking from time to time and would like to take the M&P 40 along for the journey.
Thanks for the help!
New to the forums
Dan
