(a) No person shall knowingly possess an object in a school safety zone if both of the following apply:
(1) The object is indistinguishable from a firearm, whether or not the object is capable of being fired.
(2) The person indicates that the person possesses the object and that it is a firearm, or the person knowingly displays or brandishes the object and indicates that it is a firearm.
(b) Subsection (a) hereof does not apply to premises upon which home schooling is conducted. Subsection (a) hereof also does not apply to a school administrator, teacher, or employee who possesses an object that is indistinguishable from a firearm for legitimate school purposes during the course of employment, a student who uses an object that is indistinguishable from a firearm under the direction of a school administrator, teacher, or employee, or any other person who with the express prior approval of a school administrator possesses an object that is indistinguishable from a firearm for a legitimate purpose, including the use of the object in a ceremonial activity, a play, reenactment, or other dramatic presentation, or a ROTC activity or another similar use of the object.
(c) Whoever violates subsection (a) hereof is guilty of illegal possession of an object indistinguishable from a firearm in a school safety zone, a misdemeanor of the first degree, provided the offender has not previously been convicted of a violation of Ohio R.C. 2923.122.
(d) As used in this section, “object that is indistinguishable from a firearm” means an object made, constructed or altered so that, to a reasonable person without specialized training in firearms, the object appears to be a firearm.
(Ord. 55-02. Passed 4-15-02.)