Some law enforcement officers not too concerned with one aspect of permitless carry
NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect that those with CCW permits no longer have to announce they are carrying when pulled over by law enforcement. Incorrect information appeared in the original reporting.
LANCASTER — As many Ohio gun owners no doubt know, they do not need a permit to carry a concealed handgun anymore. The new law has many parts, including eliminating the need for handgun training.
The law also does away with the requirement for notifying a police officer of a handgun during a traffic stop. While that is a major change from the past, several local law enforcement officers are not too concerned about it.
"My officers are pretty well trained to see behavioral cues, to look at the environment around them when they're interacting with people," Millersport Police Chief Mark Consolo said. "The only real concern I have with this new implementation of the gun regulations is that people are not properly trained on the firearm."
He said such training showed gun owners how to use their weapon and also educated them on firearm laws.
"That's what really bothers me about the whole thing," Consolo said.
He said his officers will not ask motorists they pull over if they are carrying a firearm unless the officer has some safety concerns.
"If they're just being stopped for a minor misdemeanor traffic violation and that's it, I don't think that line of questioning really needs to apply," Consolo said.
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Baltimore Police Chief Mike Tussey has taught police academy courses for 31 years. He said he teaches his students to assume everyone they stop is armed. Therefore, Tussey said he doesn't think that portion of the new law changes things much. He said his officers will ask motorists they pull over if they are carrying.
"There's some good to the new law and there's some things that I look at and have some concerns with," Tussey said. "But as far as that one segment of it I don't know if that really changes the dynamic of the stop itself."
Like Consolo, Tussey said he's concerned about people not understanding the potential civil liabilities in carrying a firearm since training is no longer required.
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Fairfield County Sheriff Alex Lape said his deputies will probably still ask motorists if they are carrying when pulled over.
"That's the information that we're sharing with the public in general and with our deputies just so everybody's on the same page and they're not surprised when they ask them," he said. "For the most part, the people that are going to be following the guidelines of this law are not the criminal element.
"The criminal element that's carrying a handgun for nefarious purposes, they're going to continue to do however they do it. They're not going to follow the law or the guidelines."
Ohio Highway Patrol Sgt. Brice Nihiser said he's not sure whether the new law presents more dangers for troopers during traffic stops. But he said patrol troopers will not ask every driver they stop if they are carrying a weapon.
"We're taught to look beyond the traffic stop," he said. "Look beyond the initial stop that you're on. If there is something that's out of place that's when we're going to be asking. That's when we're going to be looking into why something's out of place."
jbarron@gannett.com
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Twitter: @JeffDBarron
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Some police officers not too concerned with one part of new gun law
