Erie County concealed handgun license-holder cleared of all charges
Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to report that an Erie County concealed handgun license (CHL) -holder recently had all pending felony charges against him dismissed by the Prosecutor. In order to protect this innocent man’s identity, he will not be identified by name, and identifiable items will be deleted from this story. We will simply refer to this person as Publius.
Publius is an Ohio CHL living in or near Erie County. Sometime last year, Publius was the victim of a “man with a gun” phone call to the police. Publius was sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of his wife’s store when a passerby noticed the handgun in the car. At no point did the passerby observe or report any suspicious activity, and the nature of the call to the police was simply “man with a gun.” No allegations of panic, criminal behavior or other nefarious acts.
The police responded and saw Publius’ vehicle outside the store. Publius then, having picked up his wife from work, pulled out and headed home. The police pulled in behind Publius and ran his license plate, which came back to a valid CHL matching Publius’ physical description. All of this is undisputed.
The police then conducted a full felony stop on Publius’ vehicle, after they knew he was a valid CHL.
Publius was pulled out at rifle point and eventually charged with improper transportation of his handgun - a felony - as the firearm was found in the center console.
Publius contacted BFA Legislative Chair Ken Hanson for legal representation, who together with local attorney Tim Dempsey agreed to Defend Publius.
The Defense centered around the police having no probable cause to detain Publius in a traffic stop. He had not violated any traffic laws, and the “man with a gun” call did not allege any criminal behavior with the gun. In short, the police had no reason to believe any laws had been broken. Further, once they knew the car was operated by a valid CHL, the police lost any possible pretense for stopping the vehicle.
A Motion to Suppress was filed challenging the grounds for the traffic stop, with a Supplemental Motion challenging the constitutionality of certain aspects of Ohio’s concealed carry law. One challenge was on the duty to notify the police as conflicting with the constitutional right to remain silent during a police stop. Another challenge was on equal protection grounds, alleging that there was no basis to treat off duty police officers (who could not have been charged with improper transport) any differently than Publius.
The day of the hearing, the case was called. Attorney Hanson and Publius approached the Judge’s bench, where they were informed that the Prosecutor had dismissed all charges, agreeing there were no grounds for the traffic stop. This meant, unfortunately, that the other challenges to the law will have to wait for another day.
This notwithstanding, Publius was very happy with the result and has been happily enjoying his gun rights since the dismissal.
While there may not be a legislative battle involving your gun rights going on every day in Columbus, be advised that there are indeed challenges to your gun rights happening every day in Ohio's police departments, prosecutors' offices and court rooms.
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