Ohio state senators added language to the state’s biennial budget bill this week that would block journalists from viewing records on Concealed Handgun License holders, including documents detailing the issuance, renewal, suspension or revocation of those licenses.
Although current law forbids journalists from copying or otherwise recording information on license holders in Ohio, Jessica Heffner, a staff writer for The Middletown Journal, was able to compile and publish a list of Ohio elected officials holding licenses by viewing the database and “committing to memory” the names of those licensees.
The new language added to the budget bill, introduced by Republican Sen. Joe Uecker, would prevent the media from viewing and thereby publishing these records, as they have done in other states, exposing gun owners to targeting by burglars and other criminals.
