marineshooter
Member
Hi guys, I am normally in the reloading side of things, but I have this question,
Does ohio allow open carry of firearms??
Does ohio allow open carry of firearms??
Ohio open carry
- Thread starter marineshooter
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General Tso
member
Yes.
Yes, it is completely legal (except in a vehicle and in the usual prohibited areas) but be careful of ignorance in the cities, particularly Cleveland/NE Ohio. It's getting better, but there are still a whole lot of people, including police officers who will see you with a gun and think you are committing a crime. I've heard some pretty bad stories of police harassment ("you're inducing panic at this event" type stuff). I wish I had more time and energy to make principled stands against authority, but I typically keep it concealed so I don't have to deal with it.
The State AG Office sent out a memo a while back, reminding local police that open carry was legal in Ohio, which helped some. Still plenty of education to go. Remember, we are working to make OC more socially accepted here in the Buckeye State, so if you do it, know what your rights are and are not, know the arguments that you may encounter, dress like a winner, wear your happy face, and use your manners! Give us all a good name!
The State AG Office sent out a memo a while back, reminding local police that open carry was legal in Ohio, which helped some. Still plenty of education to go. Remember, we are working to make OC more socially accepted here in the Buckeye State, so if you do it, know what your rights are and are not, know the arguments that you may encounter, dress like a winner, wear your happy face, and use your manners! Give us all a good name!
According to my CCW class instructor...Open carry is legal in Ohio, but if you are inducing panic by open carrying, then you can be guilty of that crime by open carrying. I don't know if this is independently verifiable, just what I was told.
NavyLCDR
member
If I had orange hair and it induced panic, would I be guilty as well?
huntsman
Member
No that’s acceptable as is any other means of self expression It’s just the 2nd amendment that gives them fits.
Lou McGopher
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- 507
[noparse]http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2917.31[/noparse]
2917.31 Inducing panic.
(A) No person shall cause the evacuation of any public place, or otherwise cause serious public inconvenience or alarm, by doing any of the following:
2917.31 Inducing panic.
(A) No person shall cause the evacuation of any public place, or otherwise cause serious public inconvenience or alarm, by doing any of the following:
- Initiating or circulating a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime, or other catastrophe, knowing that such report or warning is false;
- Threatening to commit any offense of violence;
- Committing any offense, with reckless disregard of the likelihood that its commission will cause serious public inconvenience or alarm.
NavyLCDR
member
Thanks geniusiknowit!
What part of the statute that geniusiknowit posted does carrying a firearm in a holster violate?
Answer: none.
What part of the statute that geniusiknowit posted does carrying a firearm in a holster violate?
Answer: none.
@ geniusiknowit
Since open carry is not an "Offense" as defined in the O.R.C you love to quote so much, it does not fall under "Inducing panic", as it has been stated many times by the state and even some law enforcement agencies.
Lets go through each one:
Number 1: Nope since we aren't " Initiating or circulating a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime, or other catastrophe, knowing that such report or warning is false" this doesn't apply to us.
Number 2: Unless you are pulling out your handgun and saying "I'm gonna blow your head off" or something of that nature you are not "Threatening to commit any offense of violence;" so this one doesn't prohibit open carry.
Number 3: Since open carry is legal in Ohio and is not classified as an "Offense", we are not "Committing any offense, with reckless disregard of the likelihood that its commission will cause serious public inconvenience or alarm."
I am not an attorney and this shouldn't be construed as legal advice, but rather as common sense and 8th grade reading comprehension.
Deanimator
Member
1. Open carry is not prohibited by the ORC, so it's legal here.
2. The Ohio Attorney General says it's legal. There AREN'T any gun laws below the state level. Cleveland can pass a law banning open carry. Cleveland can pass a law banning interracial marriage. Neither has any force of law. Enforcing either is both a crime and a civil tort.
3. There have been a number of false arrests of open carriers here. To my knowledge, none of them has held up. The only thing that even comes remotely close was a kid carrying a Cz52 in a flap holster. Cleveland cops arrested him for unlawful CCW. He folded in return for a slap on the wrist which won't keep him from getting his Ohio CHL when he's old enough.
4. A number of cities and officers have been sued for false arrest and other civil torts related to arrests for open carry. If you're an Ohio cop and woke up wanting to get yourself and your department sued and LOSE, arrest somebody for open carrying, absent some actual criminal offense.
5. It's illegal for me to carry into an establishment with a Class D liquor license. It's illegal and a civil tort for a cop to arrest me for open carrying, inadvertent exposure, "printing" or any other such nonsense. Neither of us has to like the law. There are consequences when we willfully disobey it. Cops are NOT exempted.
2. The Ohio Attorney General says it's legal. There AREN'T any gun laws below the state level. Cleveland can pass a law banning open carry. Cleveland can pass a law banning interracial marriage. Neither has any force of law. Enforcing either is both a crime and a civil tort.
3. There have been a number of false arrests of open carriers here. To my knowledge, none of them has held up. The only thing that even comes remotely close was a kid carrying a Cz52 in a flap holster. Cleveland cops arrested him for unlawful CCW. He folded in return for a slap on the wrist which won't keep him from getting his Ohio CHL when he's old enough.
4. A number of cities and officers have been sued for false arrest and other civil torts related to arrests for open carry. If you're an Ohio cop and woke up wanting to get yourself and your department sued and LOSE, arrest somebody for open carrying, absent some actual criminal offense.
5. It's illegal for me to carry into an establishment with a Class D liquor license. It's illegal and a civil tort for a cop to arrest me for open carrying, inadvertent exposure, "printing" or any other such nonsense. Neither of us has to like the law. There are consequences when we willfully disobey it. Cops are NOT exempted.
Lou McGopher
Member
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- Mar 18, 2009
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I posted that here to show that open carry does not constitute "inducing panic."bsctov said:
I don't know what gave you the idea that I thought otherwise.
NavyLCDR
member
Now come on, genius - you didn't post your opinion on the statute and left us to assume your postion. I assumed, as you stated, that you posted the statute to show that it is rediculous to think a holstered firearm could violate that statute. But that was still an assumption on my part, I just happened to pick the right side of the assumption for once 
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