AP: Senate President says lawmakers close on concealed weapons compromise
The Associated Press
12/10/03 6:40 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — House and Senate lawmakers, while debating public records issues and legal defenses, moved closer Wednesday to passing a bill allowing Ohioans to carry concealed weapons.
"We're working very aggressively right now," he said.
White said an agreement with the governor's office was "pretty close."
The Legislature has been unable to pass a concealed weapons bill for the past eight years.
A committee working out differences between House and Senate versions of the bill was scheduled to meet Wednesday night.
Taft declined to comment. "We're trying to work something out," he said. "There's no point in talking any more about it."
In a surprise move, House Speaker Larry Householder on Wednesday replaced a member of the committee working out differences on the concealed weapons bill.
Householder, without explanation, announced that Rep. Jimmy Stewart, an Athens Republican was replacing Rep. Bob Latta, a Bowling Green Republican.
Householder said he wanted to let a new House member have experience on a high-profile conference committee. Earlier Wednesday, White took himself off the same committee and added Sen. Steve Austria, who oversaw the bill's passage in the Senate.
Lawmakers were working on a compromise involving concealed weapons in cars. People who carry concealed weapons could keep the gun in a holster while driving, instead of taking it out of the holster and placing it in a locked glove compartment or container, under the proposal.
Capt. John Born, Highway Patrol spokesman, said he was waiting to see the final version of the bill.
An earlier proposal would have required them to remove the gun from a holster and place it in a locked box or glove compartment.
"We do not want concealed, loaded guns in cars, which is the position we've held since 1996," Born said Wednesday.
In addition, reporters would be allowed access to limited public records on a name-by-name basis under Householder's compromise. Taft's insistence that the names of permit holders be public stalled recent negotiations over the bill.
Householder said the compromise will also allow sheriffs to issue a temporary concealed carry permit. This would address differences over a provision of law that allows people arrested for carrying a hidden gun to prove to prosecutors or a judge that the practice is essential for safety reasons.
That provision is known as an affirmative defense.
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