State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

House bill reduces penalty to $25 for not disclosing gun in car

The Columbus Dispatch: The threat of punishment for failing to tell a law enforcement officer that you are carrying a gun would get a lot less worrisome under a bill that passed the Ohio House on Tuesday.

Under current law, when an officer pulls over a vehicle on a traffic stop, the driver must inform the officer if he or she is a concealed-carry license holder and is carrying a concealed handgun. Failure to do so could result in a first-degree misdemeanor and potential loss of a concealed-carry license for a year.

But House Bill 142, approved 69-24 by the House, would reduce that penalty to a $25 fine with no chance for a gun license suspension. It also would no longer require “prompt” notification, which some argued was a confusing requirement in current law.

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