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Concealed Carry Penalties - Ohio |
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Written by Webmaster
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Apr 01, 2007 at 07:50 PM |
We are not lawyers and the information presented here is from the "reasonable man" or layperson perspective. Please consult an attorney for "real" legal advice.
Concealed "Weapons" are discussed in the Ohio Revised Code in several sections and unfortunately they must be read together to acquire any idea as to the "penalty" for carrying an "illegal" concealed weapon.
The place to start research into Carrying Concealed Weapons is the Ohio Revised Code titled "Carrying concealed weapons, ORC 2923.12.
§ 2923.12. Carrying concealed weapons.
(A) No person shall knowingly carry or have, concealed on the person's person or concealed ready at hand, any of the following:
(1) A deadly weapon other than a handgun;
(2) A handgun other than a dangerous ordnance;
(3) A dangerous ordnance.
(B) No person who has been issued a license or temporary emergency license to carry a concealed handgun under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] or 2923.1213 [2923.12.13] of the Revised Code or a license to carry a concealed handgun that was issued by another state with which the attorney general has entered into a reciprocity agreement under section 109.69 of the Revised Code, who is stopped for a law enforcement purpose, and who is carrying a concealed handgun shall fail to promptly inform any law enforcement officer who approaches the person after the person has been stopped that the person has been issued a license or temporary emergency license to carry a concealed handgun and that the person then is carrying a concealed handgun.
(C) (1) This section does not apply to officers, agents, or employees of this or any other state or the United States, or to law enforcement officers, authorized to carry concealed weapons or dangerous ordnance and acting within the scope of their duties.
(2) Division (A)(2) of this section does not apply to any of the following:
(a) An officer, agent, or employee of this or any other state or the United States, or a law enforcement officer, who is authorized to carry a handgun and acting within the scope of the officer's, agent's, or employee's duties;
(b) A person who, at the time of the alleged carrying or possession of a handgun, is carrying a valid license or temporary emergency license to carry a concealed handgun issued to the person under section 2923.125 [2023.12.5] or 2923.1213 [2923.12.13] of the Revised Code or a license to carry a concealed handgun that was issued by another state with which the attorney general has entered into a reciprocity agreement under section 109.69 of the Revised Code, unless the person knowingly is in a place described in division (B) of section 2923.126 [2923.12.6] of the Revised Code.
(D) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (A)(1) of this section of carrying or having control of a weapon other than a handgun and other than a dangerous ordnance that the actor was not otherwise prohibited by law from having the weapon and that any of the following applies:
(1) The weapon was carried or kept ready at hand by the actor for defensive purposes while the actor was engaged in or was going to or from the actor's lawful business or occupation, which business or occupation was of a character or was necessarily carried on in a manner or at a time or place as to render the actor particularly susceptible to criminal attack, such as would justify a prudent person in going armed.
(2) The weapon was carried or kept ready at hand by the actor for defensive purposes while the actor was engaged in a lawful activity and had reasonable cause to fear a criminal attack upon the actor, a member of the actor's family, or the actor's home, such as would justify a prudent person in going armed.
(3) The weapon was carried or kept ready at hand by the actor for any lawful purpose and while in the actor's own home.
(4) The weapon was being transported in a motor vehicle for any lawful purpose, was not on the actor's person, and, if the weapon was a firearm, was carried in compliance with the applicable requirements of division (C) of section 2923.16 of the Revised Code.
(E) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (A) of this section of carrying or having control of a handgun other than a dangerous ordnance that the actor was not otherwise prohibited by law from having the handgun and that the handgun was carried or kept ready at hand by the actor for any lawful purpose and while in the actor's own home, provided that this affirmative defense is not available unless the actor, prior to arriving at the actor's own home, did not transport or possess the handgun in a motor vehicle in a manner prohibited by division (B) or (C) of section 2923.16 of the Revised Code while the motor vehicle was being operated on a street, highway, or other public or private property used by the public for vehicular traffic.
(F) No person who is charged with a violation of this section shall be required to obtain a license or temporary emergency license to carry a concealed handgun under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] or 2923.1213 [2923.12.13] of the Revised Code as a condition for the dismissal of the charge.
(G) (1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of carrying concealed weapons. Except as otherwise provided in this division or division (G) 2) of this section, carrying concealed weapons in violation of division (A) of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree. Except as otherwise provided in this division or division (G)(2) of this section, if the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of this section or of any offense of violence, if the weapon involved is a firearm that is either loaded or for which the offender has ammunition ready at hand, or if the weapon involved is dangerous ordnance, carrying concealed weapons in violation of division (A) of this section is a felony of the fourth degree. Except as otherwise provided in division (G)(2) of this section, if the weapon involved is a firearm and the violation of this section is committed at premises for which a D permit has been issued under Chapter 4303. of the Revised Code or if the offense is committed aboard an aircraft, or with purpose to carry a concealed weapon aboard an aircraft, regardless of the weapon involved, carrying concealed weapons in violation of division (A) of this section is a felony of the third degree.
(2) If a person being arrested for a violation of division (A)(2) of this section promptly produces a valid license or temporary emergency license to carry a concealed handgun issued under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] or 2923.1213 [2923.12.13] of the Revised Code or a license to carry a concealed handgun that was issued by another state with which the attorney general has entered into a reciprocity agreement under section 109.69 of the Revised Code, and if at the time of the violation the person was not knowingly in a place described in division (B) of section 2923.126 [2923.12.6] of the Revised Code, the officer shall not arrest the person for a violation of that division. If the person is not able to promptly produce any of those types of license and if the person is not in a place described in that section, the officer may arrest the person for a violation of that division, and the offender shall be punished as follows:
(a) The offender shall be guilty of a minor misdemeanor if both of the following apply:
(i) Within ten days after the arrest, the offender presents a license or temporary emergency license to carry a concealed handgun issued under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] or 2923.1213 [2923.12.13] of the Revised Code or a license to carry a concealed handgun that was issued by another state with which the attorney general has entered into a reciprocity agreement under section 109.69 of the Revised Code, which license was valid at the time of the arrest to the law enforcement agency that employs the arresting officer.
(ii) At the time of the arrest, the offender was not knowingly in a place described in division (B) of section 2923.126 [2923.12.6] of the Revised Code.
(b) The offender shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined five hundred dollars if all of the following apply:
(i) The offender previously had been issued a license to carry a concealed handgun under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] of the Revised Code or a license to carry a concealed handgun that was issued by another state with which the attorney general has entered into a reciprocity agreement under section 109.69 of the Revised Code and that was similar in nature to a license issued under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] of the Revised Code, and that license expired within the two years immediately preceding the arrest.
(ii) Within forty-five days after the arrest, the offender presents any type of license identified in division (G)(2)(a)(i) of this section to the law enforcement agency that employed the arresting officer, and the offender waives in writing the offender's right to a speedy trial on the charge of the violation that is provided in section 2945.71 of the Revised Code.
(iii) At the time of the commission of the offense, the offender was not knowingly in a place described in division (B) of section 2923.126 [2923.12.6] of the Revised Code.
(c) If neither division (G)(2)(a) nor (b) of this section applies, the offender shall be punished under division (G)(1) of this section.
(3) Carrying concealed weapons in violation of division (B) of this section is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(H) If a law enforcement officer stops a person to question the person regarding a possible violation of this section, for a traffic stop, or for any other law enforcement purpose, if the person surrenders a firearm to the officer, either voluntarily or pursuant to a request or demand of the officer, and if the officer does not charge the person with a violation of this section or arrest the person for any offense, the person is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and the firearm is not contraband, the officer shall return the firearm to the person at the termination of the stop.
HISTORY: 134 v H 511 (Eff 1-1-74); 135 v H 716 (Eff 1-1-74); 141 v H 51 (Eff 7-30-86); 146 v S 2. Eff 7-1-96; 150 v H 12, § 1, eff. 4-8-04.
So what about the person who is knowingly in a place described in division (B) of section 2923.126 [2923.12.6] of the Revised Code?
And what does 2923.126 (B) say you ask?
an Excerpt from ORC 2923.126;
(B) A valid license issued under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] or 2923.1213 [2923.12.13] of the Revised Code does not authorize the licensee to carry a concealed handgun in any manner prohibited under division (B) of section 2923.12 of the Revised Code or in any manner prohibited under section 2923.16 of the Revised Code. A valid license does not authorize the licensee to carry a concealed handgun into any of the following places:
(1) A police station, sheriff's office, or state highway patrol station, premises controlled by the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, a state correctional institution, jail, workhouse, or other detention facility, an airport passenger terminal, or an institution that is maintained, operated, managed, and governed pursuant to division (A) of section 5119.02 of the Revised Code or division (A)(1) of section 5123.03 of the Revised Code;
(2) A school safety zone, in violation of section 2923.122 [2923.12.2] of the Revised Code;
(3) A courthouse or another building or structure in which a courtroom is located, in violation of section 2923.123 [2923.12.3] of the Revised Code;
(4) Any room or open air arena in which liquor is being dispensed in premises for which a D permit has been issued under Chapter 4303. of the Revised Code, in violation of section 2923.121 [2923.12.1] of the Revised Code;
(5) Any premises owned or leased by any public or private college, university, or other institution of higher education, unless the handgun is in a locked motor vehicle or the licensee is in the immediate process of placing the handgun in a locked motor vehicle;
(6) Any church, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship, unless the church, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship posts or permits otherwise;
(7) A child day-care center, a type A family day-care home, a type B family day-care home, or a type C family day-care home, except that this division does not prohibit a licensee who resides in a type A family day-care home, a type B family day-care home, or a type C family day-care home from carrying a concealed handgun at any time in any part of the home that is not dedicated or used for day-care purposes, or from carrying a concealed handgun in a part of the home that is dedicated or used for day-care purposes at any time during which no children, other than children of that licensee, are in the home;
(8) An aircraft that is in, or intended for operation in, foreign air transportation, interstate air transportation, intrastate air transportation, or the transportation of mail by aircraft;
(9) Any building that is owned by this state or any political subdivision of this state, and all portions of any building that is not owned by any governmental entity listed in this division but that is leased by such a governmental entity listed in this division;
(10) A place in which federal law prohibits the carrying of handguns.
It appears that carrying an unloaded concealed handgun onto 2923.126(B) premises is a misdemeanor of the first degree (FROM 2923.12(G1) which is referenced from 2923.12(G2c) above).
It appears that carrying a loaded concealed handgun onto 2923.126(B) premises is a felony of the fourth degree (FROM 2923.12(G1) which is referenced from 2923.12(G2c) above).
Unless of course we go back to 2923.12(G1) and find this
Except as otherwise provided in division (G)(2) of this section, if the weapon involved is a firearm and the violation of this section is committed at premises for which a D permit has been issued under Chapter 4303. of the Revised Code or if the offense is committed aboard an aircraft, or with purpose to carry a concealed weapon aboard an aircraft, regardless of the weapon involved, carrying concealed weapons in violation of division (A) of this section is a felony of the third degree.
If you dont believe what I have here, please feel free to read the ORC for yourself at Ohio Revised Code ONLINE
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Last Updated ( Jun 17, 2007 at 12:46 PM )
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