toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS - LaDonna Harris is ready to buy a gun.

The owner of LaDonna's Gold and Silver at Lakeside Centre says that, for self-protection, she will probably be among the 70,000 Ohioans expected to apply for permits to carry concealed handguns. It is her legal right under the new concealed-carry law taking effect Thursday.

"My son's a policeman," she said. "He thinks it's a good idea, but he doesn't want to put a gun in my hand without my knowing how to shoot it."

But her landlord, the former North Towne Square mall off Alexis Road in North Toledo, also plans to exercise its right under the law, reinforcing its existing policy against guns. Even the mall's security guards do not carry guns.

Ms. Harris said she can live with the policy, as long as no one else is allowed to carry guns either. But this is proving to be the next battleground between pro- and anti-gun groups as Ohio becomes the 46th state to allow citizens to carry concealed guns.

"If somebody tucks a gun in his sock under his pant leg, how are you going to know? It's concealed," said Lori Rycz, mall property manager.

After nearly a decade of trying, proponents of concealed-carry in the General Assembly managed to pass a bill the governor was willing to sign. The law requires sheriffs to issue permits to anyone who is at least 21 years old, has lived in the state at least 45 days, the county or adjacent county for 30 days, completes a 12-hour firearms training course, and passes criminal and mental-health background checks.

Michigan received nearly 63,000 applications in its first year after passing such a law. County sheriffs across Ohio expect to be inundated with applications. Many plan extended hours of operation to handle the flood.

All of a sudden, firearm training is a boom business in Ohio. Firearm instructors are backed up for months trying to meet the training requirement for those seeking certification. Pro-gun groups, in turn, are training certified instructors to bridge the gap.

All property owners, especially businesses with foot traffic, have a decision to make. Do they want customers packing guns on their property, either in the store or its parking lot?

"People vote with their dollars," said Chad Baus of Arch-

bold, spokesman for Ohioans for Concealed Carry. "If I have a local hardware store that won't let me carry a gun, and WalMart does, where am I going to buy my nuts and bolts?"

Arkansas-based WalMart, which sells firearms and ammunition, remains friendly to concealed handguns.

"We haven't experienced any problems in any state that has those laws," said corporate spokesman Sharon Webber. "If a handgun is concealed and the person is legally permitted to carry, it shouldn't present any problem. Once it becomes visible, it is no longer a concealed handgun, and we will ask that person to leave."

The Toledo-based Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence has printed signs and has made more available for download from its Web site for businesses to post in their windows and parking lots. Depicting a handgun in a red square with a line crossed through it, the sign declares: "Weapon Free Zone - Carrying of Weapons Prohibited."

"We have not reached out to people at their houses, but we've told business owners that they have every right, whether it's a restaurant or a private office, to say, 'Not here,'●" said coalition Executive Director Toby Hoover. "Gun-owners are still the minority, even if this law did pass."

Ohioans for Concealed Carry has countered by selling business cards for its members to leave behind at off-limits shops. They read, "We have noticed your sign and are going to respect your wishes by shopping elsewhere."

OFCC is trying to convince businesses they have nothing to fear from a customer who is legally permitted to carry a concealed handgun, but it has also begun publishing on its Web site the names of businesses, restaurants, hospitals, libraries, and tourism attractions that have posted signs against guns.

Law enforcement is still trying to figure out how the law will play out. In addition to any private property declared off-limits, the law provides a patchwork of private and public places where guns are prohibited.

This could put those licensed to carry in the position of trying to find something to do with their guns when they enter a bar, post office, courthouse, day-care center, school zone, airport, or any other location declared off limits by state or federal law or an owner's choice.

"You could have thieves sitting in cars watching, the same thing that happens during Christmas shopping," said Lucas County Sheriff James Telb. "They'll wait for people to come out, put their guns in their trunks, and then go on to the next store. Then they pop the trunks. We're encouraging merchants to have more vigilant security checks in parking lots."

Those with permits to carry who refuse to leave if told to do so by a business owner could be guilty of criminal trespass, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in prison.

"People who have a license are not willing to break the law," said Mr. Baus of OFCC. "They wouldn't have fought so hard to get this law if they were just going to break it."

Would a licensee be willing to risk prosecution for insisting on stowing a gun in his car in an off-limits parking lot while he goes back into an off-limits store?

"We will watch for that, yes," said Bob Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association. "Will we be acting as hall monitors? No. If we see someone do this, we'll have a conversation with the individual, make sure the law is being obeyed. But we're not going to sit and watch in every parking lot. We're not Big Brother."

Jim Yates, an attorney with the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, has fielded calls from businesses wishing to ensure their existing policies against employees bringing guns into the workplace will apply to customers under the new law.

In most cases, he said, it is simply a matter of well-placed signs.

"Sometimes, with legislation of this type, once people are educated about it, it's much ado about nothing," he said. "Sometimes there are unintended consequences. We'll have to see how it plays out about a month after it goes into effect."

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.

Permanent Link