Press Release: Ohioans for Concealed Carry Strongly Opposed to Substitute HB274

Ohioans for Concealed Carry has completed an extensive evaluation of the Substitute HB274, as adopted by the Senate Judiciary Committee (Civil Justice) on Tuesday Dec. 3.

After a full review, OFCC has made official our opposition to Substitute HB274, and called for the Senate to pass HB274 (7), which received a veto-proof majority vote in the House six months ago.

CLEVELAND - Thursday, December 5, 2002 Ohioans For Concealed Carry, the state's largest grassroots organization dedicated to concealed carry reform, called on the Ohio Senate today to pass HB274, as passed by the Ohio House, unless the Judiciary Committee goes to extreme lengths to fix unacceptable significant changes they've adopted in the substitute legislation.

"We are extremely concerned with the very poor decisions and language in the new legislation and to what extremes these last minute knee-jerk deals have created," said Jeff Garvas, president of Ohioans For Concealed Carry. "In their effort to appease the police union this legislation has become practically useless, and the Governor and his state patrol are asking for even more restrictions, many of which don't exist in other states that have successfully implemented concealed carry reform nationwide."

The Ohio State Patrol is demanding licensed citizens be barred from transporting their firearm in a motor vehicle "while it is moving", or basically forcing citizens to repeatedly fidget with their firearm every time they enter or leave a vehicle. Such mangling is not only impractical without violating the "brandishing a weapon" laws; it is a serious safety concern to mandate the frequent process of unloading as you enter and reloading as you exit a vehicle.

"We have reviewed the changes, and not only can we not support them, we are opposed to the concept of destroying vital aspects of the bill that were the result of combined efforts in the House." said Garvas.

The FOP bill triples the mandatory education requirements to an extreme that would not only make this the second strictest education proposal nationwide, it would prevent lower income families from being able to afford the training required.

Ironically, the FOP has simultaneously extended the period of time an officer can apply for a license after retiring and still be exempted from every aspect the union has imposed upon the general public, including the mandatory education aspects and the application and renewal fees.

"The Senate Judiciary Committee needs to compare the value of these extensive changes with the fact that they have alienated themselves from the veto-proof majority that helped write this legislation in the first place," said Greg Kopp, secretary of Ohioans For Concealed Carry. "This committee can make a significant effort to relax some of the Draconian efforts that have made it into this substitute legislation, otherwise they should pass HB274, as it left the Ohio House, and come back next year to fix these issues in a forum of public debate."

Ohioans For Concealed Carry has delivered a lengthy list of concerns to the committee and the leadership of both houses. Members of the news media interested in obtaining a copy of that multi-page document should contact us at the number below. Our public relations team is available in most Ohio major cities for on-camera interviews.

SOURCE: Ohioans For Concealed Carry (http://www.OhioCCW.org)

CONTACT: Jeff Garvas, (216) 496-3928 or (216) 552-4368 (voicemail) or [email protected]