The Ohio Senate passed legislation Wednesday that will allow any Ohioans 21 and older to carry a concealed weapon, so long as they’re allowed to possess it under state and federal law.
Currently, Ohioans must pass a background check and demonstrate proof of eight hours of training to obtain a concealed carry license. Senate Bill 215 nixes these guardrails, along with a requirement that armed people “promptly” inform police officers that they’re carrying a concealed weapon during a stop.
All Senate Republicans, minus Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, voted for the legislation. Democrats opposed the bill.
Both the House and Senate have now passed separate but similar versions of “constitutional carry” or “permitless carry” legislation, as it’s commonly known. Lawmakers will have to agree on a final version to send to Gov. Mike DeWine.
A DeWine spokesman said Wednesday the governor is reviewing the bill and noted he has “long supported the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.”
The vote comes after a record setting year of deaths from gun violence and related arrests in 2020, according to data from the state health department and FBI respectively. This year’s data will not be final for several months, but early indicators suggest 2021 will set new high watermarks in both fields.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/6Jr5Y/1/
Republicans, backed by the gun lobby and gun rights advocates, argued it’s a constitutional issue: both the state and federal constitutions provide a right for citizens to bear arms. Carrying a concealed weapon, they argued, is a simple extension of that right. Plus, Ohio law allows for residents to openly carry firearms. So why, they asked, would someone need to seek a permit to carry a concealed weapon?
“It makes no sense that you can open carry, but it becomes illegal when you put a jacket on,” said Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Huron.
Anti-gun violence advocates and law enforcement officials aligned with Democrats on the issue. They argued the legislation removes reasonable training requirements. Plus, they said putting more guns on the streets will inevitably yield more gun violence.
“This is a bill looking for and creating trouble,” said Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo. READ MORE
Newest abortion bill heads to governor’s desk
BY SUSAN TEBBEN
The newest abortion regulation in the state is now headed to the Ohio governor’s desk after the Senate agreed to technical House amendments.
Senate Bill 157, the so-called “born alive” abortion bill, passed the House 24-7 on Wednesday. The bill expands the crime of “abortion manslaughter” to include inaction by doctors if a child is “born alive” in an abortion procedure. (Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Huron, and Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, co-sponsored and voted in favor of the bill.)
The bill has already passed the House and the Senate, but prior to the House’s 59-33, they made technical changes so the bill conforms with rules in separate and unrelated legislation.
One of the technical amendments takes a change made in House Bill 110, the main operating budget, and conforms the bill to the changes. In HB 110, legislators narrowed the distance allowed between an ambulatory surgical facility (the category under which abortion clinics fall) and a hospital where a consulting physician has admitting privileges, from 30 to 25 miles.
The other change made applies physician disciplinary actions made in the bill to the Ohio Revised Code’s regulations on medical licensure, according to the Legislative Service Commission.
SB 157 requires physicians who perform or attempt an abortion in which the child is born alive to “immediately provide certain newborn care,” and to complete a “child survival form.”
Doctors could face charges of felony abortion manslaughter for failing to “take measures to preserve the health of a child born alive after abortion,” including post-birth care, calling for emergency assistance and arranging hospital transfer.
Opponents say because the bill prohibits doctors funded and affiliated with public medical schools from participating in variance agreements with abortion clinics, it could spell closure of Southwest Ohio clinics.
Abortion advocates have also said the bill duplicates regulations already a part of law in terms of life-saving care, and purports to fix a problem that is already tracked and statistically rare in the state.
Gov. Mike DeWine seems likely to pass the bill based on his previous pro-life stances.
Senate sends homebrew legislation to governor
BY NICK EVANS
Elmer Steingass’ friends call him Goose, and his brown ale took home a gold medal at a recent homebrewing competition. It’s going to be tough to get a taste, though. That’s because homebrewing falls into a bit of a grey area under Ohio law. A measure on its way to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk would clear the path for homebrewers and fermenters to host events showing off their latest batch.
Steingass sits on the American Homebrewers Association governing committee, and he’s been pushing for this legislation for four years. Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, sponsored the measure which passed the Senate easily Wednesday on a vote of 30-1 after the House tacked on a number of additional provisions.
The core of the proposal codifies the right to brew beer or ferment wine in Ohio without a liquor permit, so long as it’s for personal consumption or to share with friends and family. Federal law allows homebrewing, but because Ohio law is silent on the matter, it hasn’t always been clear what is and isn’t allowed.
“So that’s kind of why we started working on this is to bring the Ohio liquor laws into compliance with what is permitted under federal law,” Steingass said. READ MORE
