ALERT: ODOT notifies Buckeye Firearms Assoc. rest stop “NO GUNS” signs to come down

Buckeye Firearms Association has just received word from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) that the NO GUNS signs at state rest stops have been ordered removed. In the telephone call to Buckeye Firearms Association Leader and NRA Election Volunteer Coordinator Rick Jones, ODOT stated that their legal department has confirmed with multiple state departments that the signs are to be removed.

This action is in response to passage and implementation of Senate Bill 184, which included several major fixes to Ohio's concealed handgun licensure law, including a change designed to allow patrons of rest stops to use the facilities without having to disarm.

The law took effect September 3, but concealed handgun licensees (CHL’s) continued to report seeing the problematic signs at highway rest stops.

Of all the places CHL’s are banned from carrying a gun, the ban in all government facilities may be the most problematic. While not "fixed" in SB184, it is now workable for CHL’s.

Sec 2923.126 (B) lists the areas that CHLs are prohibited from carrying a concealed handgun.

Sec2923.126 (B)
(9) Any building that is owned by a government facility of this state or any a political subdivision of this state, and all portions of any building that is not owned by any governmental entity listed in this division but that is leased by such a governmental entity listed in this division and that is not a building that is used primarily as a shelter, restroom, parking facility for motor vehicles, or rest facility and is not a courthouse or other building or structure in which a courtroom is located that is subject to division (B)(3) of this section;

The crossed out portions were deleted from the Ohio Revised Code. The underlined portions were added.

Buckeye Firearms Association has received many questions regarding this section and what it means. What we can say is that it means what it says, and nothing more. Many of the "what about..." questions will simply have to be answered in court.

What is clear is that "a building that is used primarily as a shelter, restroom, parking facility for motor vehicles, or rest facility" will "not" be a prohibited area anymore.

This should solve the problems for highway rest facilities and shelters and bathrooms at county fairgrounds that have been particularly problematic for CHL’s. It will also permit CHL’s to enter parking garages owned by the state, such as the Statehouse parking garage.

BFA would like to extend our thanks to Rick Jones and all the other BFA volunteers who called or wrote regarding these rest stop signs. Remember to vote in the upcoming election to help preserve hard-won breakthroughs like this!