HB495 (Reciprocity & Concealed Carry Modernization) assigned to House State Government and Elections Committee

Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to announce that HB495, introduced in late March by Representative Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) to reform Ohio concealed carry law to protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners and continue a trend toward making Ohio law similar to other states, has received a committee assignment.

Click here to download this important bill.

The following is a list of the members of the Ohio House State Government and Elections Committee, their status as co-sponsors of this legislation, their previous record on firearms-related legislation, etc.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice:

Republican
Maag, Chair - HB495 co-sponsor, previous endorsee
Adams - HB495 co-sponsor, previous endorsee
Blessing Jr. - previous endorsee
Buchy - HB495 co-sponsor, previous endorsee
Combs - previous endorsee
Damschroeder - HB495 co-sponsor
Dovilla - HB495 co-sponsor
Gardner - previous endorsee
Grossman - HB495 co-sponsor, previous endorsee
Huffman - previous endorsee
Sprague
Terhar
Young - HB495 co-sponsor, previous endorsee

Democrat
Gerberry, Ranking Minority Member - previous endorsee
Celeste
Clyde
Fedor
Letson
Lundy - previous endorsee
Patmon
Stinziano
Sykes

Please take a moment to contact Speaker William Batchelder and thank him for assigning this bill, and encourage him to continue making HB495 a priority.

Committee Chairman Ron Maag can be expected to be a strong leader for HB495 in his committee. A previous endorsee of Buckeye Firearms Association, Rep. Maag sports a long history of pro-gun/ pro-hunting reform votes.

There is already some opposition circulating in the Statehouse. Rep. Bill Patmon (D), is circulating a letter citing a Joyce Foundation-funded anti-gun group's flawed "report" in effort to drive opposition to a provision in HB495 which would allow Ohio to join many other states in automatically honoring other state's concealed carry licenses, and allow the Attorney General to sign more agreements with other states.

Patmon suggests that because there have been instances where some states have allowed people with domestic violence convictions, mental illnesses, and other equivalent concerns to get CHLs, Ohio should be hesitant to accept their licenses. Interestingly, the example he cites in the memo is Florida - a state with which Ohio already has reciprocity! If Ohio were having any problems with Florida licensees, Patmon would certainly have cited the examples. But he does not. What's more, in many of the states listed in the memo, the "report" simply says that people with domestic violence misdemeanors are allowed to purchase firearms and does not mention a CHL. This is undoubtedly the type of flawed logic the opposition plans to bring up in committee.

Be sure to check back at this website often, as news of hearings on this important legislation will be announced in due course. If you'd prefer to receive this type of news via email, please click here and subscribe to Buckeye Firearms News.

Related Story:
Representative Terry Johnson introduces HB495 (Reciprocity & Concealed Carry Modernization)