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Bill Could Allow Concealed Carry Holders To Escape Penalties

As Ohio lawmakers consider passing a bill to downgrade the penalty for illegally carrying a concealed weapon on college campuses, one Ohio lawmaker is hoping for something stronger. He’s proposed legislation to take concealed-carry one step further.

Republican Rep. John Becker says reducing the penalties for carrying a concealed weapon on a college campus is a step in the right direction. But Becker is sponsoring a bill that wouldn’t just reduce penalties for licensed concealed carry holders who take their guns into gun free zones like daycares, bars or college campuses – it would give them the opportunity to escape them entirely.

“If someone is discovered on the premises with a gun, they can ask them to leave and they must leave or they get charged with a crime. They just can’t get charged with a crime immediately. They have to be given the opportunity to leave.”

Becker says he’s talked to legislative leaders about including this provision in the gun bills being considered by lawmakers right now.

Copyright 2016 The Statehouse News Bureau

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.