The Ohio Legislature is marching toward passing a Clermont County representative’s bill that would decriminalize taking legally concealed weapons into gun-free zones such as schools, restaurants, courthouses and open-air arenas that serve alcohol.
House Bill 233 was approved in July by a Republican-dominated Ohio House of Representatives that fast-tracked the measure. Not even 50 days had passed since it was introduced by Eastgate-area Rep. John Becker, who calls himself “one of the few who walk the talk when it comes to supporting conservative legislation.”
As the bill neared a vote, it drew the usual support from gun-rights groups and opposition from their usual foes. Remarkably, though, it was condemned by groups normally in synch with Republican causes. The Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and others testified against the bill.
“This would allow an individual to intentionally bring any instrument capable of inflicting death into a place that prohibits weapons and face absolutely no repercussions,” said Don Boyd, director of Labor and Legal Affairs for the Ohio Chamber, before a House committee on July 5.
Over the objections of the business and law enforcement groups, all but two House Republicans — and all of those from Southwest Ohio — voted for the bill. Only one Democrat, from far eastern Ohio, voted for it. It is now before the Senate.
Ohio legalized “concealed carry” in 2004 during the Bob Taft administration. The law takes pains to keep hidden weapons — that is, those of civilian license-holders — out of police stations, courthouses, schools, churches and places where alcohol is consumed. It also gives businesses and property owners the right to prohibit weapons, concealed or not.
Those provisions have teeth. Taking a concealed gun into a school, a bar or an open-air concert, for example, is a fifth-degree felony punishable by six to 12 months in prison (a third-degree felony if done “knowingly”). Ignoring a “no-guns” ban on private property is considered criminal trespassing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor that rates up to 30 days in jail.
Becker, however, regards that as a misguided tarring of concealed handgun licensees, or, as he sees them, the “cream of the crop of the citizenry.” His bill would decriminalize those violations and would instead leave it up to school officials, store employees or bartenders to ask that violators vacate the premises. If the gun-person stays, then Becker’s “jerk clause” would kick in, and the violator would face a disorderly conduct charge, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
Nowhere does Becker cite the number of people charged with toting their guns into Ohio’s gun-free zones. CityBeat tried to tap into those statistics but learned that the state doesn’t compile them.
Becker calls his bill the Decriminalization Effort for Ending Notorious Deaths (DEFEND). On his website, he says that his “gun bills” resonate the most with the public.
“It appears HB 233 has good prospects in the Senate,” he posted. “I’m confident that it will also get signed into law.”
Republicans hold a 24-to-9 majority in the Ohio Senate. But the business establishment and its lobbyists maintain closer ties to senators than to House members at the state level. With police, sheriff and prosecutor groups expressing misgivings about the House version of the bill, the Senate’s response could be a close call.
State Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-North Avondale, says the bill “creates a problem where there is no problem.”
“If I don’t want you on my premises with a firearm, I shouldn’t have to say, ‘Look, you’ve got to leave,’ ” says Thomas, who spent 27 years in the Cincinnati Police Department. “What happens if we get into a heated discussion over the issue? I’ve got to try to argue my position knowing you’re armed. What’s to say that that won’t set you off?
“It’s disturbing to see a bill like this, especially in light of what occurred in Las Vegas,” he says, referring to the murder of 58 concert-goers and wounding of about 500 others at an outdoor concert Oct. 1.
Mike Weinman, director of government affairs for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, says his group opposes the bill and the shift of responsibility from the concealed weapon owner to people not accustomed to dealing with armed visitors.
“It creates a dangerous scenario,” he says. “Who knows how it could escalate?”
Becker’s 65th House District includes Milford, the Clermont slice of Loveland and the northwestern third of Clermont County. He took office in 2013.
A GOP precinct committeeman since 1993 and a party state committeeman from 2004 to 2012, Becker is known for his conservative fiscal and social views. As he has written in his Becker Report online, he favors gun rights, religious freedom and shielding providers of health care services to the poor from malpractice lawsuits. He opposes abortion, unfunded educational mandates and “socialized health care.”
Becker also wants the least amount of government as possible. On taxes and regulations, he writes, “let’s start with zero and negotiate from there.”
But his characterization of concealed gun carriers as the “cream of the crop” of society puzzles Joe Rosato, director of government affairs for the Ohio Restaurant Association. “If they’re truly the cream-of-the-crop citizens, they should be able to follow the law,” he says.
Many members of Rosato’s organizations have liquor licenses. In his testimony before the House in July, he said they are quite content with the current law’s prohibition against people taking concealed weapons into bars.
“Why then would we want to make it easier for people to have hidden, loaded guns in places where alcohol is served?” Rosato asked. “We know that guns and alcohol do not mix. There is strong evidence that alcohol increases a person’s likelihood of violent aggressive behavior — the type of behavior that can be deadly when a gun is involved.”
Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil says he has no concerns about the bill. Clermont County Sheriff Robert Leahy opposes it in its current form. Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims had no comment. Nor did a spokeswoman for Cincinnati Public Schools.
Also not responding to CityBeat‘s requests for comment was Bill Coley, a Republican state senator from Liberty Township. He is chairman of the Senate Government and Oversight Reform Committee, the DEFEND bill’s first stop in the upper chamber.
CONTACT JAMES McNAIR at jmcnair@citybeat.com, 513-914-2736 or @jmacnews on Twitter
This article appears in Oct 11-18, 2017.
