Ohio seems headed toward allowing citizens to carry guns in cars with ammunition near. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that a bill most law-enforcement groups and county prosecutor groups tried to shoot down easily cleared the House yesterday. By a 73-23 vote, lawmakers approved the National Rifle Association-backed bill allowing all legal gun owners to carry their weapon in a car. While the gun can’t be loaded, the bill allows the weapon to be in an unlocked case with the ammunition near at hand. The Ohio Senate still needs to agree to the rules before they would go to Gov. Ted Strickland, who is expected to sign them.
“It’s going to make it a lot easier for people to carry concealed weapons in their car, and we’re not going to have any legal recourse,” said Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Patrolmens Association, who testified against the bill. He said the new regulations would make it more dangerous for police officers when they approach stopped cars. The gun language was holstered to the so-called castle doctrine legislation, which presumes that a resident acted in self-defense if they used force against someone who illegally entered their house or car.