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Legislature alters rules on gun control

Gov. Bob Taft quickly vowed to veto the bill.

"The legislature is poised to send him a bill with far-reaching pre-emptive provisions that would overturn local governments' current weapons sales and possessions laws," said Taft spokesman Mark Rickel. "It will be vetoed."

Substitute House Bill 347 would also allow licensed gun owners to holster and conceal their firearms inside their vehicles while driving, eliminating a provision in current law requiring firearms to be transported in "plain sight." Taft has also taken issue with this provision.

The "plain sight" issue had been the lightning rod of controversy - until Wednesday, when the substitute version was introduced and hurried through the General Assembly.

Under the bill, bans in Cleveland and Shaker Heights on assault-type weapons would be voided. Cuyahoga Heights, Garfield Heights, East Cleveland and Akron are some of the other area communities with varied gun ordinances now in jeopardy.

Even local bans on firearms on city-owned property, such as parks and playgrounds, would be lifted.

State law forbids guns inside government buildings and schools.

Sen. Eric Fingerhut, a Shaker Heights Democrat, during a floor speech, said that gun control is more imperative in urban areas than in rural areas. He chastised his Senate colleagues for pushing a bill that hurts Ohio's large cities.

"If you don't respect my constituents, you don't respect me," he said.

Sen. Jim Jordan, an Urbana Republican, said licensed gun owners shouldn't have to worry about whether they are breaking the law just because they drive from one town into another that might have different gun rules.

"It just makes a whole lot more sense," he said of the bill.

The updated bill was passed by the Senate 19-10. The House approved it 74-14.

Even before Taft announced his plans to veto the bill, Senate President Bill Harris, an Ashland Republican, said the legislature has enough votes to override the governor.

Harris said the legislature forged ahead without Republican Taft because leaders had struck a compromise with police organizations, namely the State Highway Patrol, over the removal of the "plain sight" provision.

The deal is this: allow for concealed carrying while driving in exchange for increased penalties if drivers do not readily tell an officer during a traffic stop that a firearm is in the vehicle or does not comply with an officer's command.

The penalty for not disclosing that a firearm is in the vehicle would go from a fourth-degree to a first-degree misdemeanor and include a one-year suspension of the gun permit. A subsequent violation of this rule would be a fifth-degree felony.

Not complying with an officer's instructions would still be a first-degree misdemeanor, but additionally would carry a two-year suspended permit.

And a provision in law allowing drunken permit holders to hand over their firearm to someone else without penalty if stopped by police would be removed. A provision that would restrict journalists' access to permit holder lists that was stripped from the bill last spring will reappear in a pending public records bill.