(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Firearm" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2923.11.
(2) "Unloaded" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2923.16.
(b) No person shall knowingly discharge a firearm while in or on a vessel.
(c) No person shall knowingly transport or have a loaded firearm in a vessel, in such a manner that the firearm is accessible to the operator or any passenger.
(d) No person shall knowingly transport or have a firearm in a vessel, unless it is unloaded and is carried in one of the following ways:
(1) In a closed package, box, or case;
(2) In plain sight with the action opened or the weapon stripped; or, if the firearm is of a type on which the action will not stay open or which cannot easily be stripped, in plain sight.
(e) The affirmative defenses contained in Ohio R.C. 2923.12(c)(1) and (2) are affirmative defenses to a charge under subsection (c) and (d) hereof.
(f) Subsections (b), (c) and (d) hereof do not apply to the possession or discharge of a United States Coast Guard approved signaling device required to be carried aboard a vessel under Ohio R.C. 1547.251 when the signaling device is possessed or used for the purpose of giving a visual distress signal. No person shall knowingly transport or possess any such signaling device in or on a vessel in a loaded condition at any time other than immediately prior to the discharge of the signaling device for the purpose of giving a visual distress signal.
(g) No person shall operate or permit to be operated a vessel in violation of this section.
(h) This section does not apply to officers, agents, or employees of this or any other state or of the United States or to law enforcement officers when authorized to carry or have loaded or accessible firearms in a vessel and acting within the scope of their duties, nor to persons legally engaged in hunting. (ORC 1547.69)