Ohio gun rights making progress

It looks as if Ohio will soon be taking a step in the right direction (maybe a couple steps). At the moment, Ohio is one of the few states in which individual municipalities can arbitarily impose gun laws that are more draconian than those of the state. The preemption bill mentioned in the above link would change that, making gun laws uniform across the state. This, of course, is as it should be. A person driving across the state with a firearm, and in compliance with every state law, should not be subject to legal trouble simply because he unknowingly drives into a town where the right to keep and bear arms is not held sacrosanct.

Such a person, for example, might drive into Columbus with his AR-15 in the trunk, not knowing that Columbus has imposed a ban on so-called "assault weapons." As another example of locally imposed, egregiously restrictive gun laws, some towns have banned license holders from carrying their firearms in public parks. Preemption would end both of these infringements on the right to keep and bear arms.

Another major improvement this law would bring about is the elimination of the requirement for holders of concealed carry permits to either lock their guns away while in the car, or to keep them holstered in plain sight. This is a ridiculous requirement that does nothing for anyone's safety. Eliminating this requirement would be a huge step forward for Ohio.

Every good thing comes with a cost, though. The bill would also apparently include a provision that would prohibit the issuance of a concealed carry permit to a person who decades ago had committed a crime which had since been expunged from his record. Currently, exceptions can be made in such cases. That is as it should be.

Another likely change for the worse is that a licensee who has had too much to drink would no longer be able to hand his gun to someone else (someone who is not impaired). How this change makes anyone safer has not been explained.

Still, preemption would be a net gain for rights in Ohio, and it's good to see that this has a good chance of passing. Let's hope that it does, and that Governor Taft has the good sense to sign it into law.