Posted on 03/30/2008 12:35:05 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Openly carrying gun not a crime Sunday, March 30, 2008 3:43 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In the political tussle over Ohio's concealed-carry gun law, one fact seems to have been overlooked by many: You never needed a permit to carry a gun in public, and you still don't --- you just can't conceal it.
As long as you haven't been convicted of a felony, if you want to wear a pistol on your belt or walk around town carrying a shotgun, Ohio has no law against it.
But if you do, don't be surprised if you get some unwanted attention from police officers.
Philip Turner, 30, discovered that in July when he walked from his Hilliard apartment to his parked truck wearing a gun on his belt. At the time, Turner worked protecting banks' ATMs as they were serviced and delivering diamonds to jewelry stores.
An undercover agent with the Ohio Investigative Unit -- the police agency that enforces the state's alcohol, tobacco and food-stamp laws -- saw the gun and quickly ordered him against his truck with his hands on his head.
"He came up and treated me like a felon for absolutely no reason at all," Turner said. "There wasn't even a suspicious action on my part to warrant him taking this action against me. Had I been out waving a gun around the parking lot, (then) yeah."
After being detained for about 30 minutes, and after Hilliard police arrived at the agent's request, Turner was released without charges. An internal investigation that concluded this week found that neither Agent Timothy Gales, who had stopped Turner, nor his partner, Betty Ford, did anything wrong.
However, it also revealed that Gales did not know it was legal for Turner to carry a gun openly, said Lindsay Komlanc, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety. As a result, more than 100 agents in the unit are to attend a mandatory refresher course on Ohio's gun laws over the next couple of months, she said.
They might be surprised at what's legal.
The investigation report said that, weeks before Turner was stopped, agents stopped a 13- or 14-year-old boy who was carrying a rifle in public. They called his mother, who retrieved the gun. Then they called a supervisor to figure out what charge to file against the boy.
The answer: nothing. The supervisor advised them that "it was their right to carry a gun openly and they were allowed to do this," according to the report.
Ohio law says you can't sell a gun to people younger than 18 or provide them with one, except for "hunting, sporting or educational purposes," said Lt. Shawn Davis of the State Highway Patrol. A child must take a gun-safety course before going hunting, Davis added.
It's not illegal "that we see" for a juvenile of any age to carry a gun in public, said Jennifer Brindisi, a spokeswoman for the Ohio attorney general's office.
Turner, who has a license to carry a concealed gun, said he was carrying his gun openly "because it's my right. I choose to exercise my right to protect myself." He doesn't know whether the two agents pulled their guns; he was instructed not to face them. The agents told investigators they didn't.
But it wouldn't be unreasonable for officers to draw their guns until they know what the situation is, said Sgt. Rich Weiner of the Columbus Police Division.
"The first thing we need to address: This man has a gun," Weiner said. "We're going to pull our guns.
"As a police officer, we also have the right to protect ourselves and protect the public, so we do have the right to disarm him momentarily. Now everybody is a little bit more at ease. We don't have a potential weapon being used against an officer or anybody else."
If your open display of a firearm is causing panic, you could be charged with inducing panic, Weiner said. If you carry it onto private property, you could be charged with trespassing, he said.
Komlanc of Public Safety wouldn't say why the agents and a police dive team were at Turner's apartment complex last July because the case is continuing.
bbush@dispatch.com
Because you have not defined "cowardly" "ill-mannered" or "attack".
If you knew anything about me or the situation or the conventions of FreeRepublic you might find things are not what they appear to be.
Now, for some reason you have self-selected to be part of some Flying Freeper "shout down squad".
The only way to deal with that is to end our conversation.
There is no reason to reply to an endless stream of questions and misinformed opinion without any foundation in fact.
If you have some comments to contribute to the topic of this thread please feel free.
I have made my contributions and they stand as posted.
I bid you Good Day!
They post signs here, covering both concealed and open carry. If you choose to ignore them and get caught, it's bad news.
Some places are insistent on allowing no firearms. The US Post Office is one, and the Federal Building, and bars. Bars don’t like firearms in there, so most incidents are out in the parking lot.
“Some places are insistent on allowing no firearms. The US Post Office is one”
Like I said you don’t know paulsen.
Anyplace here that sells alcohol, even Circle-K and the grocery stores is a huge no-go for firearms. The penalties are far greater than just going into say, a shoe store that has posted a sign.
I gather you are one of the many banglist regulars who have had an encounter of the "RobertPaulsen" kind.
He is a genuine Free Republic gem and if he did not exist we would have to invent him... if that were possible.
Best regards,
Yup. I'd bet the farm on that.
At the same time were the local LEO to drive by and see me walking armed along the highway right-of-way I know he would like to stop and get his sniper rig out of the trunk and take a few practice rounds at the prairie rats with me.
He is a genuine Free Republic gem and if he did not exist we would have to invent him... if that were possible.
Well actually I don’t think anyone could possibly invent the stuff he comes up with.
He is amusing I’ll grant him that but obnoxious at the same time.
Convinced against his will he is of the same opinion still.
Hee hee. Right you are. But he deserves a ping if his name is mentioned.
-ccm
I'm familiar with both him and the weaklings he regularly trounces.
That is the law here in Michigan too! A little over a year ago I mentioned this to my plant's security manager who was also a reserve officer in Roseville, and he was stunned. He had no idea that was the law and I even provided the docu. from the Mich. State Police website........
RE: Ga. As I understand it when CCW was made law open carry was made illegal.
Prior to then open carry was the law, a sensible one I believe.
Now on an obscure note, if, IF you’re FISHING in Ga. you are allowed to open carry.
Isn’t that strange?
Ever since Carter saw that Killer Rabbit...
Convinced against his will he is of the same opinion still.
I too have held the mistaken belief that our debate was between two adults.
No longer.
Best regards,
Okay, I will bite. Is this a WRITTEN FreeRepublic rule? Or an UNWRITTEN FreeRepublic rule that has taken me 8 years to discover?
Because I am damned if I do and damned if I do not. RobertPaulsen has admonished me "not to waste bandwidth" and if I recall, he used it in conjunction with the word "troll", a word no one has ever applied to me in my 8 year history on FreeRepublic.
So I certainly would not wish to cross his most emphatic request/demand/edict.
Best regards,
Right about now, don’t you feel like a fool for that post?
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