130th Ohio General Assembly
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H. B. No. 54  As Reported by the House Criminal Justice Committee
As Reported by the House Criminal Justice Committee

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
H. B. No. 54


Representatives Maag, Martin 

Cosponsors: Representatives Adams, J., Adams, R., Balderson, Beck, Boose, Bubp, Derickson, Grossman, Kozlowski, McGregor, Mecklenborg, Uecker, Young, Amstutz, Pillich, Hayes, Slaby 



A BILL
To amend sections 2923.13 and 2923.14 of the Revised Code 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.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2923.13 and 2923.14 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2923.13.  (A) Unless relieved from disability as provided in section 2923.14 of the Revised Code, no person shall knowingly acquire, have, carry, or use any firearm or dangerous ordnance, if any of the following apply:
(1) The person is a fugitive from justice.
(2) The person is under indictment for or has been convicted of any felony offense of violence or has been adjudicated a delinquent child for the commission of an offense that, if committed by an adult, would have been a felony offense of violence.
(3) The person is under indictment for or has been convicted of any felony offense involving the illegal possession, use, sale, administration, distribution, or trafficking in any drug of abuse or has been adjudicated a delinquent child for the commission of an offense that, if committed by an adult, would have been an a felony offense involving the illegal possession, use, sale, administration, distribution, or trafficking in any drug of abuse.
(4) The person is drug dependent, in danger of drug dependence, or a chronic alcoholic.
(5) The person is under adjudication of mental incompetence, has been adjudicated as a mental defective, has been committed to a mental institution, has been found by a court to be a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order, or is an involuntary patient other than one who is a patient only for purposes of observation. As used in this division, "mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order" and "patient" have the same meanings as in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of having weapons while under disability, a felony of the third degree.
Sec. 2923.14.  (A) Any person who, solely by reason of the person's disability under division (A)(2) or (3) of section 2923.13 of the Revised Code, is prohibited from acquiring, having, carrying, or using firearms, may apply to the court of common pleas in the county in which the person resides for relief from such prohibition.
(B) The application shall recite the following:
(1) All indictments, convictions, or adjudications upon which the applicant's disability is based, the sentence imposed and served, and any release granted under a community control sanction, post-release control sanction, or parole, any partial or conditional pardon granted, or other disposition of each case, or, if the disability is based upon a factor other than an indictment, a conviction, or an adjudication, the factor upon which the disability is based and all details related to that factor;
(2) Facts showing the applicant to be a fit subject for relief under this section.
(C) A copy of the application shall be served on the county prosecutor. The county prosecutor shall cause the matter to be investigated and shall raise before the court any objections to granting relief that the investigation reveals.
(D) Upon hearing, the court may grant the applicant relief pursuant to this section, if all of the following apply:
(1) The One of the following applies:
(a) If the disability is based upon an indictment, a conviction, or an adjudication, the applicant has been fully discharged from imprisonment, community control, post-release control, and parole, or, if the applicant is under indictment, has been released on bail or recognizance.
(b) If the disability is based upon a factor other than an indictment, a conviction, or an adjudication, that factor no longer is applicable to the applicant.
(2) The applicant has led a law-abiding life since discharge or release, and appears likely to continue to do so.
(3) The applicant is not otherwise prohibited by law from acquiring, having, or using firearms.
(E) Costs of the proceeding shall be charged as in other civil cases, and taxed to the applicant.
(F) Relief from disability granted pursuant to this section restores the applicant to all civil firearm rights to the full extent enjoyed by any citizen, and is subject to the following conditions:
(1) Applies only with respect to indictments, convictions, or adjudications, or to the other factor, recited in the application as the basis for the applicant's disability;
(2) Applies only with respect to firearms lawfully acquired, possessed, carried, or used by the applicant;
(3) Does not apply with respect to dangerous ordnance;
(4) May be revoked by the court at any time for good cause shown and upon notice to the applicant;
(5)(4) Is automatically void upon commission by the applicant of any offense set forth in division (A)(2) or (3) of section 2923.13 of the Revised Code, or upon the applicant's becoming one of the class of persons named in division (A)(1), (4), or (5) of that section.
(G) As used in this section:
(1) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Post-release control" and "post-release control sanction" have the same meanings as in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 2923.13 and 2923.14 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. It is the intent of the General Assembly in amending section 2923.14 of the Revised Code to apply the amendments to that section retroactively to any restoration of rights granted previously to any applicant under section 2923.14 of the Revised Code or under any previous version of that section. The General Assembly is explicitly making this amendment to clarify that relief from a weapons disability granted under section 2923.14 of the Revised Code restores a person's civil firearm rights to such an extent that the uniform federal ban on possessing any firearms at all, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), does not apply to that person, in correlation with the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) in Caron v. U.S. (1998), 524 U.S. 308.
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