12-29-2016
Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a bill into law that allows concealed firearms to be carried on to college campuses, daycares, and businesses.
Prior to the new law, private Ohio employers were entitled to ban firearms anywhere on their premises, including employees’ locked vehicles in the parking lot. Now, employers may not prohibit licensed gun owners from storing them in their locked cars in their employers’ parking lots. Employers are given immunity in civil actions arising out actions taken with firearms, including theft. Employers are still allowed to ban the weapons from private buildings. Concealed guns will now also be allowed in airports open to the general public and in some government buildings. College boards of trustees have to vote to allow concealed firearms on campus. Child-care centers and in-home daycare have to post a sign if guns are not allowed.
At one point, the Ohio legislature had proposed including licensed gun owners as a protected class similar to race, sex and disability. Under the proposed amendment to the Ohio Civil Rights Act, business owners would not have been able to discipline employees who brought concealed firearms onto their premises and could have been sued for discrimination if they had done so. Pro-business organizations fought against the bill because it would have diminished business owners’ rights to regulate their own property.