Op-Ed: Concealed-carry has begun, but the showdown is far from over

April 19, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

by Lee Leonard

As the ceremonial first pitches were thrown out to start the baseball season, so the first lawsuits were thrown into the courts to start the concealed-carry season in Ohio.

Opponents of the new law cited several reasons for stopping sheriffs from issuing permits to carry concealed handguns and asked the Ohio Supreme Court to declare the law invalid.

One Franklin County resident took Sheriff Jim Karnes to court, saying she was denied a temporary emergency permit and denied the right to apply for a regular concealed-carry permit.

Ohioans for Concealed Carry*, based in suburban Cleveland, asked the court to force Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul to start taking applications, even though the sheriff’s office is uprooted by construction. He is still obligated to start the concealed-carry process, the group said.

Despite the lawsuits and a rush of applicants, most law-enforcement officers and observers thought the process began smoothly. Many people might be holding off for a couple of weeks to avoid the rush.

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Some sheriffs tried to eliminate long lines by having applicants make appointments. This initially annoyed some of the gun groups, but they quickly realized an orderly process is more efficient.

For example, Clermont County accepts the preliminary paperwork first, then takes appointments for the mechanics, such as fingerprinting. It will issue the permits after checking out the applicant. That’s three visits to the sheriff’s office, but there’s not a lot of standing in line, said Jim Irvine of Ohioans for Concealed Carry.

Rep. Jim Aslanides, the chief sponsor of the gun law, went to the head of the line, perhaps fittingly, in his home county of Coshocton. Aslanides was there at midnight of the day House Bill 12 took effect and went through the permitting process.

"My intent was to get in before the rush," said the third-term Republican. "It was helpful to them (the sheriff’s office). It served as sort of a dry run."

Aslanides doesn’t even know how often he’ll carry his handgun. Because he works in a state office building, he won’t be able to bring it, even into the underground parking garage. "The intent here is to get people educated and trained on firearms," he said. "Then you are able to carry if the need arises."

The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence would just as soon see no permits issued. Executive Director Toby Hoover, who filed the group’s lawsuit, said there’s no way to check the mental competency of an applicant because the database is being established on cases filed with probate courts after April 8.

Still, sheriffs are checking into the past as best they can. They are hampered by the federal privacy law that restricts the release of medical records, including those for mental illness.

Robert A. Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association, said sheriffs check records in other counties for evidence of mental instability of applicants.

Cornwell said the sheriffs can check through the Ohio Highway Patrol LEADS database to see whether an applicant is the subject of a civil or temporary protection order for domestic violence.

In her complaint to the court, Hoover said House Bill 12 has pre-empted cities and townships from controlling weapons on outdoor public property, including parks.

Aslanides said the law prohibits handguns only in buildings owned or leased by the government, so the weapons must be permitted in public parks. The law also pre-empts local governments from restricting handguns from more places than House Bill 12 does. So this issue is bound to end up in court.

The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence has tried to make business owners aware of their rights to post their premises against concealed handguns.

Ohioans for Concealed Carry has counter-awareness. It makes available on its Web site an information card to be left behind by gun-toting customers.

"We have noticed your sign, and are going to respect your wishes by shopping elsewhere," says the card, equating the "no gun" symbol with a "no dollar" symbol.

The card also notifies the business that it will be added to the "Do Not Patronize" list on the Web site. Ohioans for Concealed Carry says some establishments have reversed their ban on guns to get off the list.

*OFCC did not filed the Cuyahoga Co. lawsuit. It was filed by Cuyahoga CO. resident Jim Irvine. Irvine is a long-time OFCC spokesperson and chairman of OFCC PAC.