"Unloaded" Weapon?

In Ohio, penalties attach when a weapon is carried improperly in a car.  Ohio law calls for the weapon to be "unloaded," which seems obviously to mean that you cannot fire the weapon and have a bullet shoot out.  However, common sense is not always applied in the law.  There have been disputes as to whether, for example, a gun with a clip, with the clip loaded but not in the gun, is "unloaded."  This might seem obvious, in that the clip being separated seems to mean "unloaded."  However, this is unclear.

The Ohio House has passed a bill to clear this up.  But, the Ohio Senate has not yet acted on this.  Hopefully, the State of Ohio will clear this matter up.

Senate Bill 337

September 28 is the date for Senate Bill 337 to take effect.  Among other things, that bill allows people to seek expungement of records that were previously not allowed to be sealed.  Under old law, if you had one felony case and one misdemeanor case (jailable), this usually meant that you could not seal your record.  Now, however, even two separate felony cases are usually eligible.  If anyone has such a situation, I can provide a specific analysis and handle seeking sealing of the record.  This has major impacts, of course, on seeking and maintaining good employment, especially in a bad economy.

The new law also, by the way, offers a path to clear the way for many licenses that might have been previously denied.  So, if you have been unable to do certain types of work because of a felony, this might also change, upon application.  Contact me to discuss this if you might be affected.

New Options!

The Ohio Legislature has made some important and beneficial moves recently.  Among these are two improvements that may help a lot of people.

The first expands the ability to gain expungements.  Until recently, an old conviction from years ago could not be sealed is another even minor incident also occurred.  For instance, if a 40-year-old man were to seek the sealing of his record from a 20-year-old drug possession case, having been drug free for years, a simple parahpernalia charge (having rolling papers) on another day would bar that sealing of the record forever. Now, Ohio law allows two (2) convictions.  I am already starting to help people seal their records, and no longer be turned away from jobs, using this law.

The second allows people to seek restoration of their Second Amendment right to bear arms.  It seems rather silly to bar a man from ever hunting with his son simply because he in 1970-something smoked marijuana or stole over $500 while shoplifting.  People learn from their mistakes.  Good people have for years been frustrated in this, but Ohio now authorizes petitioning a judge and asking that sins from the past be forgiven, with the right to bear arms restored.  And, judges are doing this.

If either of these new laws would help you, give me a call!