Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed a bill this week that will allow concealed handguns to be carried at colleges, day care centers and airports.
Senate Bill 199, which takes effect in 90 days, lifts the state’s ban on carrying hidden weapons at those locations, if local authorities approve.
While opponents of the law decried its passage, officials at the University of Akron and Kent State University pointed to their existing policies that restrict deadly weapons on their campuses.
The bill gives public colleges and universities the authority to allow weapons on campuses. College boards of trustees would have to approve the measure individually, and day care centers will have the option of posting signs preventing firearms.
Guns would still be forbidden in courthouses, police stations and the Ohio Statehouse.
During the past two years, there has been an effort led by a Cincinnati firearms instructor to raise awareness about gun rights, particularly for college students.
In April 2015, about 40 gun-rights advocates walked across the University of Akron campus to Lock 3 Park in downtown Akron for an Open Carry/Firearm Education Walk. The walk was peaceful and symbolic of Second Amendment rights. The thrust of the march was to get concealed carry on campus.
Before the bill was signed, open carry was legal in Ohio, but concealed carry on campuses was not.
Similar walks have been held at Kent State University, Ohio State University, Bowling Green and the University of Cincinnati.
In September, a group of about 30 people legally carried various firearms at Kent State. They were shadowed by a small group of student protesters carrying signs and flowers and a retired professor sharing the university’s history of the May 4, 1970, shootings by the Ohio National Guard, which resulted in the deaths of four students.
At Kent State University, there is a policy already in place regarding deadly weapons.
“The university policy on deadly weapons as approved in September represents the board’s position on this issue and we have no plans for further action,” board of trustees Chair Larry Pollock said.
The policy, which prohibits “the possession, storage, or use of a deadly weapon in certain circumstances on university property, unless otherwise permitted by state law,” can be found at www.kent.edu/policyreg/university-policy-regarding-deadly-weapons.
The University of Akron has taken no action on the measure, but concealed weapons are not allowed on campus.
“The University of Akron board of trustees has not yet discussed this legislation, which does not go into effect for 90 days following the governor’s signature,” UA spokesperson Wayne Hill said. “The new law will permit university boards of trustees to allow concealed carry on campus, but does not require board action. If a board opts not to act, then the current prohibition would prevail.”
Pleased with measure
Kasich’s decision to loosen restrictions on residents who have a license to carry a concealed weapon in the Buckeye State is a big step forward for gun-rights advocates like Joe Eaton.
“The reality is that concealed carry is now mainstream in Ohio,” Eaton, treasurer of a gun-advocacy group called Buckeye Firearms Association, said on the group’s website.
“We’re very pleased the governor signed the bill,” Buckeye Firearms Association Executive Director Dean Rieck, said, also on the group’s website. “There was a lot of controversy over the specifics of the bill, but in the end I think this is a real Christmas gift for Ohio gun owners.”
Opposed to law
An opponent of the bill, Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, issued a statement condemning the law.
“This is what happens when politicians kowtow to the gun industry, they sign real laws and the gun lobby’s twisted, dangerous vision comes to life,” Gross said in the prepared statement. “The real truth is that it’s all built on a lie, a myth that more people carrying guns makes us all safer. And Governor Kasich took that bait — hook, line, and sinker.
“Now, the Buckeye State is considerably less safe for it. In the real world, lives are shattered every day because many of those guns are involved in suicides, accidental shootings, and crimes of passion.”
In an email, Rebecca Flowers, co-president of the Brady Campaign’s Central Ohio Chapter said: “Formerly sacred academic institutions will now be crawling with loaded, hidden guns — in a state where any felon or domestic abuser can easily buy a gun online or at a gun show without a background check. Governor Kasich’s new handiwork also puts Ohio’s youngest Buckeyes at risk by allowing guns in the state’s more than 8,000 day care homes and centers. Kids are curious, and every single day we see tragedy strike when that curiosity meets a loaded gun.”
The mission of the Brady organization united with the Million Mom March, a national network of over 90 chapters to prevent gun violence at the community level, is to create a safer America by cutting gun deaths in half by 2025.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.