Avoid the mistakes made by these Ohio CHL-holders facing potential charges

With the number of concealed handgun license-holders skyrocketing in Ohio and across the country, there are bound to be a few more headlines mentioning incidents where a CHL-holder makes a mistake.

As we take note of a few recent cases below, for the purposes of education and prevention, it is important to keep in mind that the revocation rate for concealed handgun licenses in the Buckeye state is about 0.4%, and that those who hold permits to carry concealed firearms are the most law-abiding demographic of U.S. citizens, according to a recent report by the Crime Prevention Research Center. (Permit holders are convicted of felonies and misdemeanors at less than a sixth of the rate of police officers, according to the study. Officers also commit firearm violations seven times more frequently than permit holders.)

That being said, there are four cases involving CHL-holders that are worth learning from.

1) In Middletown, a CHL-holder has been arrested for drawing his firearm and placing it on his dashboard during a traffic stop conducted by officers in an unmarked car. The man was removed from the vehicle and searched, and found to be carrying another firearm in an ankle holster.

Although details are somewhat lacking in this article (for example, the article does not say if the officers who exited the unmarked car were in uniform), it bears repeating - Ohio law makes it a felony for a CHL-holder to touch or attempt to touch a firearm during a traffic stop. Furthermore, Ohio law requires that license-holders promptly notify law endorcement officers that they are carrying whenever detained for a law-enforcement purpose.

2) In Huber Heights, prosecutors are still deciding whether to charge the son of what is likely a CHL-holder (again, the article doesn't say) with a crime after the vehicle he drove to school was found to have a firearm inside. According to the report, the district’s security director was in the parking lot and saw a lockbox on the floor of a car. According to the school's safety director, the student did not know that the case, which had apparently slid out from underneath the seat and was visible, contained a firearm. The article says the parent is distraught and emotional.

Parents and other CHL-holders who carry firearms to protect their families are responsible for their firearms at all times, whether it is in your possession or not. Parents who carry, and who have children of driving age, should never let their firearm in a vehicle that the juvenile driver has access to. It is also important to have a conversation with your driving-aged kids about traffic stops, because if the vehicle is titled to the parent, the officer conducting the stop will run the plate and be notified it is owned by a CHL-holder. They are not initially going to know who is driving, and whether or not there is a firearm inside.

3) In Fairview, a CHL-holder may face criminal charges after leaving his firearm in a Chick-fil-A bathroom. According to the article, a manager at the restaurant in Westgate Shopping Center reported a .380 Smith & Wesson was found in a men's bathroom stall. A man called the restaurant saying he accidentally left his gun in the bathroom as an officer was leaving to take the gun to the police station. The man met the officer at the Fairview Park Police Department. He provided proof of ownership and his concealed handgun license. The officer returned the gun to the man.

Again, CHL-holders must ALWAYS be aware of where their firearm is, and be careful never to leave it behind. We hope prosecutors don't pursue this case further. A few years ago, a Cincinnati boy was given an award for reporting the gun he found in a courthouse bathroom - it had been left there by an officer.

4) In New Carlisle, a CHL-holder somehow managed to shoot himself in the hand while he was having a dental procedure done. Initial reports were extremely vague, and we simply don't know how this happened. But this much is ALWAYS true: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.