With Ohio’s new “permitless carry” law set to take effect June 12, Portage County law enforcement agencies say the new rules increase the risks of their already stressful jobs, prompting them to update their training.
Governor Mike DeWine signed the law, previously known as Senate Bill 215, last month. Ohioans aged 21 and older will be able to carry a concealed handgun without any permit, firearms training or background check, and they will not have to promptly inform police they are armed.
However, if an officer asks a person whether they have a loaded gun and the person lies, they can be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor. Current law makes failure to notify a first-degree misdemeanor.
Streetsboro Lt. Richard Polivka said he supports Second Amendment rights but wonders if gun owners will still make the effort to get training.
“My concern would be that people are still going to be safe, and that they’re going to take it upon themselves, even though they’re not legally required to, to attend some type of training,” he said.
Polivka said he has found most CCW permit holders to be law abiding and responsible, and can only hope that won’t change when restrictions ease in June.
“Our job is not without risk and unfortunately we end up coming into contact a lot with people that are not being careful and are not doing what they should be doing,” he said. “So I’m hoping this is not going to be something that puts us in more jeopardy. I’m hoping that anybody who wants to carry a gun is just going to be as careful as they can.”
Kent’s police officers are being trained to roll with the new normal, which does provide the force with at least one layer of protection.
“If we ask the person if they’re armed, they do have to answer truthfully,” Chief Nicholas Shearer said. “So I think from the training side of things with us, we train our officers to ask that question a lot more frequently and very early on in contact with people.”
The police lobby isn’t counting on honesty. Michael Weinman, director of government affairs for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, said the law simply puts officers at a further disadvantage, leading to greater uncertainty during interactions with the public.
“It takes .23 seconds for someone to draw a firearm. It typically takes an officer two and a half seconds to react to that. In that amount of time he’s already squeezed off two or three rounds. So they’re always at an advantage over us, always,” he said. “They know what they’re going to do, and we don’t know what they’re going to do. No amount of training can help you with that.”
He suspects some people will take the new CCW law as affirmation that it’s none of the government’s business if a person has a gun. It puts police in a difficult position.
“You can look for signs if they’re armed, like if they’re favoring one side, trying to keep one arm down, trying to hide it, or if they’re heavier on one side, or the jacket,” Weinman said. “But they always know what they’re going to do, and you’re always guessing. It might be an educated guess, but it’s still a guess.”
But Shearer questions whether the bill will have a significant effect on disclosure.
“The people who aren’t going to be honest with us probably weren’t going to be honest in the past, either, regardless of this bill,” he said. “The people who were going to be honest with us before will probably answer honestly.”
Police often respond to high-stress situations that are only made worse when firearms suddenly appear. Knowing that the new law reduces the penalty for finding such a weapon from a first- to a second-degree misdemeanor, reducing possible fines and jail time, doesn’t make it any better, said Windham Police Chief Richard Garinger.
“This is territory that we’re walking into that we’re not used to,” he said. “I think it’s just going to take us changing the way we do things. And it’s never going to stop the individual who’s intent on hurting one of us, ever.”
Officers will not confiscate legally licensed weapons, but may retain them while interacting with citizens. It depends on what Shearer calls “the totality of the circumstances.”
Police are not the only people at greater risk because of the law.
Studies show that nationally an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month. From July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, Ohio tallied 131 domestic violence fatalities, 86% of which were perpetrated with a gun, said Lauren Webb, director of domestic violence services with Portage County Family and Community Services.
But nationwide, states that forbid people convicted of any violent misdemeanor crimes from owning a firearm saw a 21% decrease in “firearm intimate partner homicide,” said Michaela Deming, policy director for the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.
“You cannot not draw some correlation. The numbers are there,” she said.
Webb says Ohio does not have any statutes related to firearms and domestic violence.
“Look how many partners get killed from folks using weapons during domestic violence situations or afterwards,” Weinman said. “They track them down at their place of work, or their relative’s house, or wherever, and kill them there. It’s very dangerous for these domestic violence survivors when the partner has a firearm.”
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.