Jessie Balmert

jbalmert@enquirer.com

COLUMBUS - "Officer, I have a concealed handgun license, and I have a gun in the car."

That warning is required of every concealed handgun license holder stopped by a police officer in Ohio. Failure to notify police promptly can result in a six-month suspension of the person's concealed weapon license and a misdemeanor charge.

But several Republican lawmakers want to eliminate that requirement, saying current law is vague and arbitrarily enforced. For example, a driver involved in a crash told the first three police officers on the scene that he had a concealed handgun license but was cited for failing to tell the fourth officer who arrived, said Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-Wooster, who introduced a bill to wipe out the disclosure requirement.

"There’s no duty to promptly notify for anything else," Wiggam told The Enquirer. People who hold concealed weapon licenses "are great citizens in society," he said.

Similar mandates are in just eight states, including Michigan, plus Washington, D.C. In most places, drivers must tell police they have a concealed handgun license only if asked.

Even in Ohio, an officer can run a license plate and find out if the person to whom the car is registered has a permit for a concealed weapon. That doesn't help if the car is driven by a family member or friend or if the car is stolen.

Record number of Ohioans have concealed carry gun permits

Ohio's police officers, including the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio and the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, say eliminating the self-disclosure requirement is a bad idea.

"There’s no reason for a law-abiding citizen not to tell a law enforcement officer that they have a concealed handgun," said Mike Weinman, director of government affairs for the FOP of Ohio. That notification removes some of the tension between an officer and the person stopped, he added.

Opponents of loosening gun restrictions say Wiggam's proposal is just one in a slew of GOP-backed bills that make Ohioans less safe.

Last year, for example, Republicans passed a law that allows people to carry guns in day cares or parts of airports. On Thursday, Sen. Kris Jordan, R-Ostrander, introduced a bill that would allow people with concealed handgun licenses to take the weapons into the Statehouse – a test for conservative lawmakers, who have traditionally shied away from lifting the restriction on guns in their workplace.

"We continue to see proposals from the Ohio Legislature that would loosen the restrictions for a very small percentage of Ohioans who chose to carry hidden, loaded weapons in our public spaces," said Jennifer Thorne, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.

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Proponents of concealed handgun licenses say Ohio's current requirement to self-disclose a gun to a police officer harasses license holders. Ohioans For Concealed Carry is pushing that new bill.

Police should focus on more serious crimes and the state's heroin epidemic rather than on citing gun owners for forgetting to notify police that they have a concealed handgun license, Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine said. "It's not in everyone's best interest to tie up resources."

Why allow guns everywhere but the Statehouse?