Bill Title: To conform the restoration of civil firearm rights with federal law and U.S. Supreme Court case law; to eliminate the prohibition against persons with certain misdemeanor drug offense convictions acquiring or possessing firearms or dangerous ordnance; and to allow restoration of civil firearm rights for firearms that are dangerous ordnance.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 7-3)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-05-27 - Passed 3rd Consideration House
[SB247 Detail]Download: Ohio-2009-SB247-Engrossed.html
As Passed by the Senate
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Niehaus, Cafaro, Grendell, Buehrer, Coughlin, Seitz, Cates, Harris, Sawyer
A BILL
| To amend sections 2923.13 and 2923.14 of the Revised | 1 |
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Code to conform the restoration of civil firearm | 2 |
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rights with federal law and U.S. Supreme Court | 3 |
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case law; to eliminate the prohibition against | 4 |
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persons with certain misdemeanor drug offense | 5 |
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convictions acquiring or possessing firearms or | 6 |
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dangerous ordnance; and to allow restoration of | 7 |
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civil firearm rights for firearms that are | 8 |
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2923.13 and 2923.14 of the Revised | 10 |
Code be amended to read as follows: | 11 |
Sec. 2923.13. (A) Unless relieved from disability as | 12 |
provided in section 2923.14 of the Revised Code, no person shall | 13 |
knowingly acquire, have, carry, or use any firearm or dangerous | 14 |
ordnance, if any of the following apply: | 15 |
(1) The person is a fugitive from justice. | 16 |
(2) The person is under indictment for or has been convicted | 17 |
of any felony offense of violence or has been adjudicated a | 18 |
delinquent child for the commission of an offense that, if | 19 |
committed by an adult, would have been a felony offense of | 20 |
violence. | 21 |
(3) The person is under indictment for or has been convicted | 22 |
of any felony offense involving the illegal possession, use, sale, | 23 |
administration, distribution, or trafficking in any drug of abuse | 24 |
or has been adjudicated a delinquent child for the commission of | 25 |
an offense that, if committed by an adult, would have been ana | 26 |
felony offense involving the illegal possession, use, sale, | 27 |
administration, distribution, or trafficking in any drug of abuse. | 28 |
(4) The person is drug dependent, in danger of drug | 29 |
dependence, or a chronic alcoholic. | 30 |
(5) The person is under adjudication of mental incompetence, | 31 |
has been adjudicated as a mental defective, has been committed to | 32 |
a mental institution, has been found by a court to be a mentally | 33 |
ill person subject to hospitalization by court order, or is an | 34 |
involuntary patient other than one who is a patient only for | 35 |
purposes of observation. As used in this division, "mentally ill | 36 |
person subject to hospitalization by court order" and "patient" | 37 |
have the same meanings as in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code. | 38 |
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of having weapons | 39 |
while under disability, a felony of the third degree. | 40 |
Sec. 2923.14. (A) Any person who, solely by reason of the | 41 |
person's disability under division (A)(2) or (3) of section | 42 |
2923.13 of the Revised Code, is prohibited from acquiring, having, | 43 |
carrying, or using firearms, may apply to the court of common | 44 |
pleas in the county in which the person resides for relief from | 45 |
such prohibition. | 46 |
(B) The application shall recite the following: | 47 |
(1) All indictments, convictions, or adjudications upon which | 48 |
the applicant's disability is based, the sentence imposed and | 49 |
served, and any release granted under a community control | 50 |
sanction, post-release control sanction, or parole, any partial or | 51 |
conditional pardon granted, or other disposition of each case, or, | 52 |
if the disability is based upon a factor other than an indictment, | 53 |
a conviction, or an adjudication, the factor upon which the | 54 |
disability is based and all details related to that factor; | 55 |
(2) Facts showing the applicant to be a fit subject for | 56 |
relief under this section. | 57 |
(C) A copy of the application shall be served on the county | 58 |
prosecutor. The county prosecutor shall cause the matter to be | 59 |
investigated and shall raise before the court any objections to | 60 |
granting relief that the investigation reveals. | 61 |
(D) Upon hearing, the court may grant the applicant relief | 62 |
pursuant to this section, if all of the following apply: | 63 |
(1) TheOne of the following applies: | 64 |
(a) If the disability is based upon an indictment, a | 65 |
conviction, or an adjudication, the applicant has been fully | 66 |
discharged from imprisonment, community control, post-release | 67 |
control, and parole, or, if the applicant is under indictment, has | 68 |
been released on bail or recognizance. | 69 |
(b) If the disability is based upon a factor other than an | 70 |
indictment, a conviction, or an adjudication, that factor no | 71 |
longer is applicable to the applicant. | 72 |
(2) The applicant has led a law-abiding life since discharge | 73 |
or release, and appears likely to continue to do so. | 74 |
(3) The applicant is not otherwise prohibited by law from | 75 |
acquiring, having, or using firearms. | 76 |
(E) Costs of the proceeding shall be charged as in other | 77 |
civil cases, and taxed to the applicant. | 78 |
(F) Relief from disability granted pursuant to this section | 79 |
restores the applicant to all civil firearm rights to the full | 80 |
extent enjoyed by any citizen, and is subject to the following | 81 |
conditions: | 82 |
(1) Applies only with respect to indictments, convictions, or | 83 |
adjudications, or to the other factor, recited in the application | 84 |
as the basis for the applicant's disability; | 85 |
(2) Applies only with respect to firearms lawfully acquired, | 86 |
possessed, carried, or used by the applicant; | 87 |
(3) Does not apply with respect to dangerous ordnance; | 88 |
(4) May be revoked by the court at any time for good cause | 89 |
shown and upon notice to the applicant; | 90 |
(5)(4) Is automatically void upon commission by the applicant | 91 |
of any offense set forth in division (A)(2) or (3) of section | 92 |
2923.13 of the Revised Code, or upon the applicant's becoming one | 93 |
of the class of persons named in division (A)(1), (4), or (5) of | 94 |
that section. | 95 |
(G) As used in this section: | 96 |
(1) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in | 97 |
section 2929.01 of the Revised Code. | 98 |
(2) "Post-release control" and "post-release control | 99 |
sanction" have the same meanings as in section 2967.01 of the | 100 |
Revised Code. | 101 |
Section 2. That existing sections 2923.13 and 2923.14 of the | 102 |
Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 103 |
Section 3. It is the intent of the General Assembly in | 104 |
amending section 2923.14 of the Revised Code to apply the | 105 |
amendments to that section retroactively to any restoration of | 106 |
rights granted previously to any applicant under section 2923.14 | 107 |
of the Revised Code or under any previous version of that section. | 108 |
The General Assembly is explicitly making this amendment to | 109 |
clarify that relief from a weapons disability granted under | 110 |
section 2923.14 of the Revised Code restores a person's civil | 111 |
firearm rights to such an extent that the uniform federal ban on | 112 |
possessing any firearms at all, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), does not | 113 |
apply to that person, in correlation with the U.S. Supreme Court's | 114 |
interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) in Caron v. U.S. (1998), | 115 |
524 U.S. 308. | 116 |