Kasich Signs incremental Gun Reform Bill SB 199

By Dean Weingarten

John Kasich
John Kasich
Dean Weingarten
Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)-

On Monday, 19 December, 2016, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed SB 199, a gun law reform bill.  SB 199 does away with gun free zones at airports outside the secure area, school “zones” away from actual school property, and some public buildings. It allows schools of higher education more leeway in setting their own policies. From toledoblade.com:

Senate Bill 199 would lift the state’s current ban on carrying concealed firearms in day-care centers, airport terminals, school safety zones, and certain government buildings and would give public colleges and universities the authority to allow weapons on campus.

SB 199 passed the legislature 68-25 in the House and 22-8 in the Senate, both with veto proof majorities. The bill started as a bill to allow active duty military to carry in the same places as those allowed to concealed carry permit holders. It was combined with a bill to make it legal to carry concealed in areas where open carriers were already allowed.

The bill gained momentum from the car and knife attack at Ohio State University on 28 November, 2016.  The officer who stopped the attack, Alan Horujko, was reported to be a competitive shooter.  From cincinnati.com:

Horujko, who listed himself as a “competitive shotgun shooter,” trained to be a police officer at the Delaware Area Career Center. He worked as a security guard and then as an officer for OhioHealth hospitals in Columbus.

The attack has been claimed by ISIS and brought increased calls for campus carry reform.

The move to allow colleges and universities to decide whether or not to allow carry on campus seems like a reform. I doubt that it will have any real impact. I have read of only one institution of higher education that voluntarily allowed campus carry. That is Liberty University in Virginia. As a private institution it is not constrained by Virginia law. I do not recall a public university or college that has voluntarily decided to allow concealed carry.

There are significant other provisions in the bill. The bill, as passed, is 66 pages long. It can be read here as Am. Sub. S. B. No. 199 As Passed by the House in pdf format.  Here are some of the other provisions,

  • Institutions of higher learning are made immune from liability from actions of legal concealed carriers. The immunity also applies if they decide to allow people with concealed carry permits to carry on campus.
  • Active duty military are allowed to carry the same as people with concealed carry permits, if they show that they have undergone training similar to that required by the Ohio concealed carry law.
  • Private or public entities may not prevent people with concealed carry permits from keeping firearms locked in private vehicles in a closed, locked, compartment.
  • Immunity from liability for firearms kept in private vehicles is included in the bill, including immunity from actions cause by the theft of such firearms.

SB 199 will go into effect in 90 days.  By my count, that will be the 9th of February, 2017.

Reform bills such as SB 199 will continue to reduce the number and size of official gun free zones.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten;

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

5 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Lou

Great article Dean! There are many critics of Kasich in the gun community but they seem to know little about Kasich regarding gun rights – he’s not perfect on all conservative issues but he is WAY more pro-firearm ownership than most Republican governors (although he was not pro-2A in the past – 20 years ago). I’m from Ohio and we have had anti-gun governors in my 50 years of being on this earth including the very anti-gun Gov. Bob Taft who was a Republican. Here is what John Kasich, who has a welcoming open door for the Buckeye Firearms Association… Read more »

Captain Bob

Lou: Very good synopsis of Kasich’s contributions to our “better than most states” gun laws. Yes, we do have a way to go before it’s like it should be but a “foot in the door” has always worked before. Our first Concealed Carry law, enacted in 2004, really sucked but we kept on pushing with OFCC and BFA along with NRA support, fighting for our rights and things got slowly better. I still have a copy of the original requirements for a handgun in a car and occasionally will read it for a laugh. Coming to Ohio from Texas with… Read more »

Lou

Captain Bob, Thanks for the reply and glad to know that you are a fellow Ohioan!. Not to get too technical but placing a 40 round magazine into Mini-14 back then classified it as a dangerous ordnance of which included machine-guns, ballistic knives, etc.. but not as a machine-gun. There was always the $50 annual license you could get for a dangerous ordnance from a Sheriff’s Department but many departments didn’t even know they had the ability to issue those and some just refused (I actually had one for a few years). Something else which is interesting is that back… Read more »

Frank Lanier II

I like this bill especially the immunity parts. Although i would like to see “gun free” zones gone altogether for legal concealed carriers as we that still have the ability to hear and see the truth all know most attacks are carried out in “gun free zones” and that no rule or law written on a piece of paper is going to stop a criminal.

Jim Macklin

College and universities are managed by highly educated idiots who think banning guns and/or knives on campus reduces violence and stops crime. They fail to understand that honest people with weapons serve as a deterrent to violent crime, even if the deterrence is only a possibility. A few years ago Kansas amended the carry laws and mandated that colleges allow lawful concealed carry on campus. The universities and Board of Regents had several years to prepare for the July 1, 2017date. Since Kansas has Constitutional Carry, any student or employee not “prohibited” and 21 or old may now carry for… Read more »