(a) No person shall knowingly discharge a firearm or stun gun while in or on a motor vehicle.
(b) No person shall knowingly transport or have a loaded firearm or a stun gun in a motor vehicle, in such manner that the firearm or stun gun is accessible to the operator or any passenger without leaving the vehicle.
(c) No person shall knowingly transport or have a firearm in a motor vehicle, unless it is unloaded, and is carried in one of the following ways:
(1) In a closed package, box or case;
(2) In a compartment which can be reached only by leaving the vehicle;
(3) In plain sight and secured in a rack or holder made for the purpose;
(4) In plain sight with the action open 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.
(d) This section does not apply to officers, agents or employees of this or any other state or the United States, or to law enforcement officers, authorized to carry or have loaded or accessible firearms or stun guns in motor vehicles, and acting within the scope of their duties.
(e) The affirmative defenses contained in Section 549.02(c)(1) and (2) are affirmative defenses to a charge under subsection (b) or (c) hereof.
(f) Whoever violates this section is guilty of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. Violation of subsection (a) or (b) hereof is a misdemeanor of the first degree. Violation of subsection (c) hereof is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(g) As used in this section, “unloaded” means, with respect to a firearm employing a percussion cap, flintlock or other obsolete ignition system, when the weapon is uncapped, or when the priming charge is removed from the pan.
(Ord. 06-19. Passed 7-1-19.)
Statutory reference:
Improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, see Ohio R.C. 2923.16