Gun owners who travel to hunt, collect, shoot clays, or just for the heck of it, need to know the rules about crossing state lines with firearms.
Even those with Ohio CCW permits are at peril when it comes to staying out of trouble because states have plenty of different rules when it comes to transporting guns. Some of which can be costly when broken.
Required reading
A freshly printed 2015 Travelers Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States is being offered by Buckeye Firearms Association and should be required reading for every person who will leave home with guns aboard or on their person.
The book is promised to be up to date and covers new concealed and open carry laws, transportation laws, reciprocity agreements, restaurant and campus carry laws, and hundreds of changes from past editions.
Don’t be naive about it. While carrying a concealed weapon in state is huge responsibility in itself, it’s not a welcome practice in every state. Ohio’s CCW laws are not recognized in many other states, making assumptions about state “welcome” signs a mistake.
The Travelers Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States was written by Kentucky lawyer and firearm law expert J. Scott Kappas and should serve well as a current reference guide to what is allowed and what I not allowed state by state.
Much information
Laws concerning how to store guns in a vehicle, weapon types allowed, where open carry is legal, personal armed travel, and more. It includes a national map that can be personalized to show information every bit as important as travel plans, routes, etc.
Kappas also includes a state by state ranking on a 0 to 10 scales for relative gun law freedom. Avoid the risk of arrest, fines, legal fees, and confiscation by researching this reference before any out of state travel.
Cost is $14.95 from the Buckeye Firearms Association.
Humble harvest
Fewer deer seen equals fewer deer harvested any way one puts it.
Ohio hunters reported harvesting just 13,726 whitetail deer during the recent four day muzzleloader season. One year ago, hunters took 16,464 deer during the same mid-winter black powder season.
The drop in harvest numbers is consistent with the overall drop in harvest for the archery and gun seasons.
According to wildlife officials the drop in numbers is planned, expected, and welcome as the reduction of the Ohio herd moves toward goals set year to year so that deer populations come closer to being acceptable to all stake holders, not just to meeting the expectations of hunters who are seeing fewer animals each year.
To be fair, the weather plays a large part in harvest results and the recent muzzle loader season, held during the first week of the New Year, was wet and warm; weather that is far from ideal for hunting.
It should also be noted that Ohio deer have more than hunters chasing them including a parasite that may prove to a real killer.
As many as 60 percent of tested deer in northeast Ohio showed evidence of infection to the parasite, which appears to be carried and transmitted by feral cats. Urban deer seem to be the most infected.
