IMPORTANT NOTE TO THOSE TAKING 8 HOUR TRAINING CLASSES

Am. Sub. H.B. 234 was signed by Governor Kasich on December 19, 2014. One provision of this law was to reduce the training requirement to obtain an Ohio CHL from 12 hours down to 8.

We are already seeing trainers advertising 8 hour classes.

It is critical to understand that the 8 hour training classes will not qualify you to apply for an Ohio CHL until after the effective date of the new law. While you can take the 8 hour class now, and wait until after the effective date of the law to apply, you cannot take the class now and apply now. Doing so would potentially open you to felony charges for application falsification.

There is no current effective date of the law, as it is not measured from the date the bill is signed, it is from the date it is filed with the Secretary of State. The effective date of the law is March 23, 2015.

Please be very careful, educated, and informed if you take an 8 hour class prior to the effective date of the law.

Additionally, the new bill provides trainers certified by national gun advocacy organizations may teach CHL training, and online training for a certain portion of the training will qualify. No one has any authoritative idea of what a national gun advocacy organization is, nor what qualifies as online training. Please be extraordinarily careful until some authoritative opinion is offered by, for instance, the attorney general or your local sheriff.

Ken Hanson is a Delaware attorney active in gun rights litigation, lobbying and training. He is the author of “The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws.”, and serves as Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair.