Ron Hood, a long time champion for gun rights in the Ohio House of Representatives, believes that Ohio will be the 18th Constitutional Carry state. Hood declared on May 30, 2019, “it’s just a matter of time where we will have this law.”
With Republicans in control of all branches of the Ohio government, this is a strong possibility. Hood’s support for Constitutional Carry dates back to the 1990s. The Ohio state representatives’ current bill, HB 178, allows law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun without having to obtain a permit.
As expected, this bill has drawn criticism from law enforcement groups and gun control advocacy groups. The former argue that this kind of bill would make their jobs more dangerous.
Gun control groups like Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America have led the way in their opposition to this legislation. They turned to the cliché, “I support the Second Amendment, but” canard to dismiss this legislation. A spokesperson from the central Ohio chapter, Richele O’Connor stated that she thinks “we all want the same thing. I think we all want to be safe.”
She stressed the importance of finding common ground on this issue.
Unfazed by the criticism, Hood stood his ground and maintained that gun control laws are not effective in stopping crime. The state representative asserted, “Gun laws only hurt law-abiding citizens; criminals don’t obey gun laws of any kind.”
On the issue of gun rights, Ohio is a middling state for gun owners, ranking 28th in Guns & Ammo magazine’s rankings for gun-friendly states. Hood’s constitutional carry bill would put Ohio’s gun laws on the correct path and give law-abiding Ohioans more options for personal defense.
Constitutional carry is one of the hottest issues of 2019. Three states — Kentucky, Oklahoma, and South Dakota — have already passed this law halfway into the year. Should Ohio make constitutional carry law of the land, it will be the most populous Constitutional Carry state in the nation.
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