Concealed Carry Permits Will No Longer Be Required In Ohio

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohioans will soon be able to carry concealed firearms without a permit or additional training.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 215 (SB 215) on Monday evening. The legislation makes it legal for any Ohioan, 21 or older, to carry a concealed firearm, so long as they are not barred from owning a gun. During traffic stops, drivers will no longer have to proactively tell police they are concealed carrying — though they do have to admit to concealed carrying if asked by an officer.

The new law will take effect June 12, 90 days after it was signed by DeWine.

Ohio previously required gun owners to go through eight hours of training and a background check to get a concealed carry permit. Both of those requirements would be wiped away under the proposed law.

SB 215 was proposed by state Sen. Terry Johnson, a Republican from McDermott.

"Ohioans are already permitted to open carry firearms, however, once an individual were to put on a sweatshirt or jacket, they would be in violation of the law," Johnson said when he first introduced the legislation. "Senate Bill 215 solves this problem and further removes restrictions to Ohio's second amendment rights."

Johnson and Republicans had the supports of guns-rights advocates during debate on SB 215, but other groups urged both the governor and the General Assembly to reconsider the text of the legislation.

During the committee process for the bill, the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, members of the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, and the Ohio Mayors Alliance Executive Board and the Mayors and Police Chiefs Leadership Committee sent a letter to the General Assembly urging them to reject SB 215 and similar legislation.

"If Ohio's concealed carry licensing laws are repealed, there will be very few safeguards to prevent potentially dangerous individuals, including by those previously convicted of misdemeanor assaults on police officers, from carrying a concealed firearm," the groups said in a joint letter to lawmakers.