Ohio's Concealed Carry & Self-Defense Law Reform (HB 203) scheduled for vote in House; BFA offers testimony on two pro-gun bills

URGENT: Please call your elected representative and ask for a YES vote on HB 203 with NO amendments. Click here to find your representative's contact information and CALL NOW!

by Chad D. Baus

Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R) has scheduled House Bill 203 for a vote in the House today, Wednesday, November 20.

The move comes after the House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee passed the bill yesterday on a bi-partisan 9 - 4. Click here to see how they voted.

Buckeye Firearms Association leaders are in Columbus this week offering testimony on this and other pro-gun legislation.

Before the committee vote, BFA Legislative Chair Ken Hanson testified on HB 203, which seeks to make many improvements to Ohio's concealed carry laws. His testimony follows.

November 19, 2013

Testimony of Ken Hanson Esq.
Legislative Chair, Buckeye Firearms Association
Ohio General Assembly 130 House Bill 203

Peaceably carrying a gun is not disorderly conduct.

H.B. 203 states that simply carrying a gun is not a violation of Ohio law. Last week, testimony against this provision was offered. This really is not a debate about the wording in the bill; it is debate about the public policy of Ohio. Can a citizen exercise a right without risking dangerous, armed confrontations with police? Policy decisions deserve up and down votes, not obfuscation over hypothetical situations.

Is the policy of Ohio that a citizen can exercise a right without risking armed confrontation with the police, yes or no? H.B. 203 will provide this yes or no answer.

Making CHL records public

The Ohio Chiefs of Police are again testifying that records of who possesses a Concealed Handgun License must be made public so that it can be determined if criminals are getting licenses, or are not having their license revoked once they are arrested for a disqualifying offense.

The only way that a person is getting a license, or not having their license suspended/revoked once they are arrested for a disqualifying offense, is that the police are not doing their jobs.

It has already been demonstrated, in Ohio, that any public access to CHL records will be abused by the police and the media, and no court will hold them accountable. Given that the only way a person is arrested for a disqualifying offense, and does not have their license suspended or revoked, is police officers failing to do their job, the simplest, most direct, cure is not a new massive bureaucratic process; but, rather, to hold police accountable for failing to do their job.

H.B. 203 is not racist

The most important thing to understand is there is no such thing as a "stand your ground" self-defense law. "Stand your ground" is a media label, a marketing label. Once you understand this, you understand how nonsensical the statistics offered against H.B. 203 are.

Any "statistic" that claims that "stand your ground" is used disproportionately by race X versus race Y is absurd, and no criminologist of any reputation would have their name associated with it.

"Stand your ground" has no independent meaning. What the media calls SYG in one state is completely different in other states. Demonstrably, no other state's SYG law can be compared to HB 203, because Ohio is the only (or one of two) states treating self-defense as an affirmative defense versus treating self-defense as reasonable doubt, negation of mental intent. Ohio is so out of line on this, that self-defense as an affirmative defense is referred to as the "Ohio Rule." Ohio cannot be compared to these other states as in these other states, the prosecution has the burden of proving it wasn't self-defense.

Further a jury that finds a defendant "not guilty" does not do so on the basis of "not guilty" by virtue of self-defense. The idea that any group can track why a defendant is found "not guilty" is absurd. At most, some self-appointed group scans media stories and uses this as a basis for "statistics."

Anyone offering "statistics" about which race uses "stand your ground" is attempting to turn a human right into a non sequitur race debate.

Amendments

Buckeye Firearms Association opposes proposed amendments 128, 129, 130, 131 and 133. We are neutral on proposed amendment 132.

Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine is also in Columbus, and will be offering testimony today on HB 231 (Eliminate 'No-Guns' Victim Zones) before the House Judiciary Committee. His testimony follows.  >>more from bfa<<