Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair Ken Hanson delivered testimony Thursday before the House Criminal Justice Committee in support of 'Castle Doctrine' legislation currently receiving consideration in both the House and Senate.

Following is the complete testimony delivered on behalf of Buckeye Firearms Association on HB264/SB184.

Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to announce passage of Senate Bill 209, which will, among other things, create mobility-impaired access lanes on various public hunting lands of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

In late February, after accepting testimony from Buckeye Firearms Association's Bob Harsanje and Larry S. Moore, the House Finance & Appropriations Committee voted to amend HB473 into Senate Bill 209, an omnibus fiscal bill that already includes some other natural resources provisions. The amendment, proposed by State Rep. Peter Ujvagi (D), was supported by SB209's primary sponsor, Sen. John Carey (R) and by Dave Graham, Chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

The bill also will allow mobility impaired, licensed individuals to hunt from such lanes with a special permit via electric-powered all-purpose vehicles or in a stationary road vehicle.

"Mobility impaired hunters deserve the same rights to enjoy their pastime as any other Ohioans," Ujvagi notes. "This plan will help clear some of the obstacles in their way."

Passage of this bill, which received unanimous support in both chambers of the Ohio legislature, was a long-time in coming.