Reps. Brown, Isaacsohn Introduce Legislation to Repeal Permitless Concealed Carry

COLUMBUS – State Reps. Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester) and Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) today introduced legislation that will repeal Ohio’s current permitless concealed carry law that became effective June 13, 2022, as part of Senate Bill (SB) 215 of the 134th General Assembly. 

“While it is every lawful American’s right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, there is no constitutional right to bear concealed weapons,” said Rep. Brown. “Owning a firearm and carrying it in a concealed fashion comes with certain responsibilities and obligations to the public, including being properly trained in the use of firearms.” 

“Average Ohioans and law enforcement agree: you should need a permit to carry a concealed weapon,” said Rep. Isaacsohn. “Ohioans deserve to feel safe in public and that means passing commonsense legislation like the bill we are proposing.” 

This legislation will: 

Rename concealed handgun licenses as basic competency licenses; 
Require individuals to follow the basic training and regulations, as outlined in the ORC, when obtaining a license to carry a concealed handgun; 
Require individuals who are carrying a concealed handgun to notify law enforcement that they are carrying a concealed handgun during a traffic stop.

The bill’s introduction coincides with the inaugural Gun Violence Prevention Summit (GVPS) hosted Thursday by the House Democratic Caucus at the Ohio Statehouse. The summit’s attendees included numerous local, state, and national groups, including the Brady Campaign, Moms Demand Action, and the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.

As part of its People First agenda, House Democrats introduced several new legislative solutions around the GVPS promoting gun safety measures supported by a bipartisan majority of Ohioans. Other gun safety legislation introduced today includes:

• Keeping Our Survivors Safe Act (Reps. Grim, Munira)
• Declaring Gun Violence a Public Health Crisis (Rep. Brewer)
• Commonsense Concealed Carry (Reps. Brown, Isaacsohn)
• Ohio Task Force on Gun Violence (Rep. Brewer)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pictures from Thursday’s GVPS courtesy of Ohio House Democrats can be found here, and a graphic listing the five new pieces of legislation House Democrats introduced this week is attached to this press release.  Additionally, the full GVPS video can be viewed and downloaded here.