“Our law enforcement officers are highly trained and trusted professionals who we rely on to keep our communities safe. They put their lives on the line every day to serve and protect, and it’s only right that they have the tools they need to continue that service —whether they are on duty, off duty or retired,” Husted said.
Qualified active and retired law enforcement are able to carry concealed firearms across U.S. state and jurisdictional lines as part Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act. The federal law enacted in 2004 overrides most local and state restrictions.
The LEOSA Reform Act would amend the original bill to expand law enforcement carrying rights to include areas governed by federal law or regulation, including: state, local and private property otherwise open to the public; national parks; certain federal public access facilities; and school zones.
“If Sen. Husted wanted to improve public safety in Ohio, he could sign onto universal background check legislation or denounce the Trump administration for restoring the gun rights of violent offenders and domestic abusers, ending most federal prosecutions of gun traffickers flooding our neighborhoods with illegal firearms, and defunding community violence intervention groups with proven track records of decreasing crime,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady United, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing gun violence through education, litigation and advocacy that is named for Jim Brady, President Reagan’s press secretary who was shot and wounded in 1981.
National Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes called the reform act a “common-sense officer safety bill and said it is a priority for the FOP.”
“This bill would clarify that the original statute allows qualified active and retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms in the same venues as civilian concealed carry permit holders. The bill also extends the exemption to magazine capacity and would allow qualified active and retired law enforcement officers to access services in U.S. Post Offices, Social Security Administration offices, Veterans Affairs offices, and other Federal facilities without disarming or securing their firearm elsewhere,” he said.
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