Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

Ohio's concealed carry law & the 4th Amendment

Ohio's new concealed carry law states that an armed person who comes in contact with a police officer must inform the officer that they are a lisence holder and they are armed.

My question is,for example, if a person is pulled over for a routine traffic stop and not suspected of being involved in any crime (other than a traffic violation), when the officer runs the car tag and is advised the owner is a lisence holder, and the driver does not announce he is armed ( because he isn't), does the officer have probable cause to search the person and thier automobile?

I guess more simply put, does haveing the concealed carry lisence give the police probable cause to search you for weapons on that fact alone?

Thank you for your time,

--name removed--


Asked on 6/14/04, 2:46 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Timothy Hess T. Hess & Associates, LLC

Re: Ohio's concealed carry law & the 4th Amendment

THat is a very good question. Being a gun owner and someone who carries I too would like to know the answer to that. My guess is, if you are licensed and tell the officer that you do not have a firearm, and that there was not any illegal activity aside from the traffic violation, they would not have probable cause to search your vehicle. The truth is, HB12 was so poorly drafted that it's going to take alot of litigation, amendments, and unfortunately arrests, to get it all sorted out.

A good website to look at is the Ohioans For Concealed Carry at www,ofcc.net

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Answered on 6/14/04, 5:00 pm


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