Ohio bill relaxes gun laws

[Jazzy]

Ohio residents would no longer need permits or training to carry concealed weapons, if a new bill proposed in state legislature passes into law.

House Bill 147, introduced just weeks after Ohio relaxed regulations around concealed carry permits and allowed hunters to use noise suppressors – the latest effort among state lawmakers around the nation to expand gun rights, two years after President Obama vowed, and failed, to strengthen federal gun laws.

In Ohio, the new measure, proposed by Rep. Ron Hood (R) of Ashville, would let anyone 21 or older who is not otherwise banned from having a firearm carry a gun. It would prevent law enforcement officers from conducting searches and seizures based on a person's carrying or possessing a firearm. Landlords would also be prohibited from barring tenants or guests who own or carry guns.

Supporters have said that current Ohio regulations – which require applicants to undergo eight hours of training, pass state and federal background checks, submit their fingerprints, and pay a fee – amounts to “an unconstitutional restriction of a constitutional right,” according to The Columbus Dispatch.

“Any law-abiding citizen should be able to carry a gun, concealed or not,” Rep. Andrew Brenner (R) of Powell, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, told the Dispatch. “Whether they’re carrying it underneath a jacket or openly displaying a sidearm should make no difference.”

Opponents of the bill are wary of loosening regulations. Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, told the Dispatch that while his organization is in favor of concealed carry, they do not agree with eliminating the licensing procedure.

Source

Do you agree with the supporters or the opponents and why?

 

[Webster]

I agree w/the supporters on the grounds that, under the Second Amendment, Americans have the right to carry firearms, under the provisions set forth in the 2008 D.C. v. Heller decision and in subsequent decisions...to wit:

In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the Supreme Court undertook its first-ever “in-depth examination” of the second amendment’s meaning Id. at 635. After a lengthy historical discussion, the Court ultimately concluded that the second amendment “guarantees the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation” (id. at 592); that “central to” this right is “the inherent right of self-defense”(id. at 628); that “the home” is “where the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute” (id. at 628); and that, “above all other interests,” the second amendment elevates “the right of law abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home” (id. at 635). Based on this understanding, the Court held that a District of Columbia law banning handgun possession in the home violated the second amendment. Id. at 635[/S]

Now, can a state issue regulations that don't violate the 2nd Amendment? Yes, they can: even under Heller, felons cannot possess firearms, nor - depending on the particular state - can those who've been committed for mental health reasons. States can also, subject to past decisions and law, pass regulations on where an individual can carry either a concealed weapon and/or carry a weapon in open view, so long as those regulations do not violate the 2nd Amendment.

 

[Dee]

I know what state I'm never visiting.

 

[DirtRider]

I really don't get this obsession Americans have with guns you would think that you live in a war zone or that there is a criminal waiting around every corner to kill you?

Where I live you have a very real chance of being murdered so I often wonder what you guys would do if you were faced with this reality!

Source - http://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-south-africas-official-crime-statistics-for-201314/

The average number of murders committed each day increased from 45 in 2012/13 to 47 in 2013/14.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

I really don't get this obsession Americans have with guns you would think that you live in a war zone or that there is a criminal waiting around every corner to kill you?

Where I live you have a very real chance of being murdered so I often wonder what you guys would do if you were faced with this reality!

Source - http://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-south-africas-official-crime-statistics-for-201314/

They save lives that is our obsession with guns.

So good for Ohio And more freedom winning.