Amended SB184 (Castle Doctrine) passed out of House Criminal Justice Committee with a 9-3 vote

Buckeye Firearms Association applauds the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee’s 9-3 vote to pass the amended SB184, Ohio's Castle Doctrine legislation.

SB184 passed the Ohio Senate in April with a 31-0 vote. Before being voted out of committee in the House, it was amended to include technical corrections and improve laws for law-abiding gun owners in Ohio.

The amendment provides a legal way for a person who does not have a concealed handgun license to transport an unloaded firearm in a motor vehicle. It allows a concealed handgun licensee to pick up a child from school, to carry a concealed firearm in one's own home without a license, to carry concealed in places such as grocery stores that sell alcohol for off-site consumption, to carry concealed in publicly-owned facilities such as park shelters, parking garages, and highway rest stop buildings, and to carry in an unlocked, closed glove compartment or center console.

The amendment also eliminates the written test to re-qualify for a Concealed Handgun License (CHL), defines a "loaded" firearm more clearly, provides for mandatory attorney's fees when police fail to return a firearm to its rightful owner, lessens the penalty for failure to inform a police officer of one's status as a CHL-holder if the officer had actual notice of the CHL, and prevents a landlord from evicting a tenant because they lawfully own and/or carry a firearm.

Several law enforcement agencies strenuously objected to defining a "loaded gun" to mean specifically a gun with ammunition in the gun. They seem to prefer the current confusing and haphazard standard that will be fixed by this bill.

The Ohio Prosecutors Association vehemently objected to the change which will require them to assume crime victims are innocent until proven guilty. They argued to keep in place an unfair system where crime victims must prove their innocence after they successfully stop a violent attack with deadly force. In the past, victims have been presumed guilty until they proved themselves innocent.

SB184 will reduce penalties for good people ensnared by confusing laws. This change focuses our criminal justice system on punishing criminals and removes undue burden from law-abiding gun owners, police, and the general population.

CLICK HERE to download a summary of the amendment.

CLICK HERE to download Amended Substitute SB184.

The bill is now expected to move to the Ohio House where a floor vote is expected Wednesday, May 28. We are encouraging calls to your State Representative to urge them to vote for SB184.

CLICK HERE to look up your Representatives. We need to make calls and send e-mails to EVERY representative in Ohio.

CLICK HERE to write a letter to your Representatives. Use our pre-written letter or write your own. We'll see it gets delivered.

How they voted:

Yea:
John White (R-38) (Chair)
Barbara Sears (R-46)
Louis Blessing (R-29)
Jim Carmichael (R-3)
Tony Core (R-83)
Jon Peterson (R-2)
Joe Uecker (R-66)
Josh Mandel (R-17)
Stephen Dyer (D-43)

Nay:
Tim DeGeeter (D-15) (Ranking minority member)
Tracy Heard (D-26)
Tyrone Yates (D-33)

Absent for the vote:
Dale Mallory (D-32)
Sandra Williams (D-11)
Kenny Yuko (D-7)