WRONG: Ohio Watercraft officers say ''No CCW'' on Boats

Thanks to the attention of an astute supporter, Ohioans For Concealed Carry has learned that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Watercraft has been incompletely/ incorrectly informing its officers and the general public about how the state's concealed carry law, passed a year ago, affected the practice of bearing arms on watercraft.

OFCC can also report that we have made some progress in correcting the problem, but that there is much work to be done to stop the flow of bad information and get the truth out to the general boating public.

Following is the original notification from an OFCC supporter:

Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2005 6:18 PM
Submitted by: Ray K.

This year's "Ohio Boat Operator's Guide: A Summary of Laws & Rules"(page 44) and the Watercraft Officers at the Cleveland Mid-America Boat Show, both say the new Ohio law gives no provision for firearms on boats. However, section 1547.69 (H) (Pages 12-14 of the 141 page law), seems to state otherwise. The law appears to exempt CHL-holders from the prohibition of firearms on vessels.

What will the officer's be enforcing on the water this summer? The officer I spoke with at the boat show told me laws on boats are the same as they used to be for cars, unloaded, locked, and not accessible. This is just one more aspect of the law which is causing confusion for the public and law enforcement.

Ray K.

The Ohio Boat Operator's Guide: A Summary of Laws & Rules is distributed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Watercraft. The following text is contained on Page 44 of the latest printed edition of the Boater's Guide, which features a publication date of April 2004 (Ohio's CCW legislation was passed in January of 2004, and became law April 8):

Firearm Restrictions
(ORC 1547.69)
Except for persons legally engaged in hunting, no person shall discharge a firearm while in or on a vessel or shall transport or have a loaded firearm in a vessel in such a manner that the firearm is accessible to the operator or any passenger.

No person shall transport or have a firearm in a vessel, unless it is unloaded and carried in a closed package, box, or case OR in plain sight with the action open or the weapon stripped.

This section does not apply to the possession or discharge of a United States Coast Guard approved distress signaling device when the device is possessed or used for the purpose of giving a distress signal. Such signaling devices shall only be loaded immediately prior to discharging a legal signal of distress.

No person shall operate or permit operation of a vessel in violation of this section.

What is NOT republished in the April 2004 Boaters' Guide (either in the printed version OR on the ODNR website version) is any reference to Section (H) of ORC 1547.69, which exempts Ohio CHL-holders and hunters from the firearms restriction:

(H) This section does not apply to officers, agents, or employees of this or any other state or of the United States, or to law enforcement officers, when authorized to carry or have loaded or accessible firearms in a vessel and acting within the scope of their duties, and this section does not apply to persons legally engaged in hunting. Divisions (C) and (D) of this section do not apply to a person who transports or possesses a handgun in a vessel and who, at the time of that transportation or possession, is carrying a valid license or temporary emergency license to carry a concealed handgun issued to the person under section 2923.125 [2923.12.5] or 2923.1213 [2923.12.13] of the Revised Code or a license to carry a concealed handgun that was issued by another state with which the attorney general has entered into a reciprocity agreement under section 109.69 of the Revised Code, unless the person knowingly is in a place on the vessel described in division (B) of section 2923.126 [2923.12.6] of the Revised Code.

Upon learning of the misleading omission, Dan White, OFCC's Membership Coordinator and Newsletter Editor, began making some calls, and reported on his progress as follows:

I called the Watercraft office for the Cleveland area. The supervisor had left for the day, so I was tranferred to his boss, an Officer Mike Westrick, who is the regional manager in the Lake Erie region. I explained to him the situation, and he read to me from the Boat Operator's Guide. I explained to him that the Guide didn't list the exemption for CHL-holders, and he told me that they had requested an opinion from Petro because the CHL law was in conflict with the watercraft law, 1547.69.

I asked him to read 1547.69 and look at section H. He said he hadn't seen that section before! He said it was pretty clear from reading that section that you can carry in a vessel, and he would be sure that all watercraft officers in northern Ohio were made aware. He said he would also put in the request that the clarification be included in the next printing of the boating guide.

In the mean-time, we need to get the word out about this. Apparently EVERY watercraft officer in Northern Ohio was echoing the guy at the Mid-Am boat show. Could be a lot of bad info out there, and not just in northern Ohio.

OFCC's Frequently Asked Questions section has been providing the facts about this law since months before the April 2004 ODNR publication, and also deals with the INCORRECT statement told to Ray K. that "plain sight" rules for CCW in cars apply to boating:

From: Ohio Division of Wildlife HQ (Wildinfo.Law at dnr.state.oh.us)
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 10:35:53 -0400

Subject: FW: Boat laws

A watercraft is a vessel and does not fall under the same restrictions as you would have transporting a concealed handgun in a motor vehicle.

OFCC has not yet been successful at obtaining information as to when the ODNR will properly update its website, and when the new publication is due out.

Concerned boaters and Ohio taxpayers may contact the ODNR's Division of Watercraft via email at [email protected].