Employer Considerations for the New Ohio Firearms Law

Effective June 13, 2022, Ohio Senate Bill (S.B.) No. 215, which Governor Mike DeWine signed into law, will permit a “qualifying adult” to legally carry, possess, or conceal a handgun without a license, background check, permit or training requirements.

• A “qualifying adult” may carry a concealed handgun in Ohio provided it is not otherwise a restricted firearm in the state.
  
  
• A “qualifying adult” means a person who is twenty-one years of age or older, who is not legally prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm under federal law or state law, and who satisfies all of the criteria listed in Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) 2923.125
  
• The law still permits employers to establish, maintain, and enforce policies prohibiting individuals from carrying handguns or firearms in company buildings or within company vehicles.
  
  
• B. 215 is silent on and does not alter the provisions of Ohio R.C. 2923.1210 that prohibits employers establishing or enforcing a policy or rule that prohibits a person who has been issued a valid concealed handgun license from transporting or storing a firearm or ammunition in their personal vehicle in their employer’s parking lot when it is properly secured in the vehicle (locked in the trunk or glovebox). This is often referred to as the “parking lot rule ”. It is our interpretation that the conditions outlined above would apply, regardless of whether that person has been issued a concealed handgun license or not.
  
  
• B. 215 specifically provides those private employers “shall be immune from liability in a civil action for any injury, death, or loss to person or property that allegedly was caused by or related to a [person] bringing a handgun onto the premises or property of the private employer, including motor vehicles owned by the private employer, unless the private employer acted with malicious purpose.”