While not the biggest thing to impact Carry rights, more steps in the right direction. http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/8681 UPDATE: Senate & House pass amended HB495; Bill sent to Governor Kasich for signature An amended HB495 was passed by the Ohio Senate today by a 26-7 vote. Two and a half hours later, the Ohio House voted 66-23 to concur with Senate amendments. The amended bill makes three changes to current law: Eliminates the "demonstrated competency" requirement for second and future CHL renewals, making CHL training similar to a hunting license. Fixes the definition of a "loaded gun" to match the commonly accepted definition. Allows law-abiding gun owners to have their firearms stored in their cars in the state-owned parking garages such as the one under the Statehouse. Unfortunately, despite having support from Ohio's chief law enforcement official, Attorney General Mike DeWine, concerns remained in the Senate over the reciprocity provisions and how it would work. In an attempt to address those concerns, the Senate Judiciary Committee amended the bill yesterday to allow 180 days before that provision took effect, rather than the standard 90 days. This would have given officials more time to prepare for the changes. In the end, however, in order to get an agreement for a floor vote, it was necessary to have the provision removed from the bill, with the commitment to come back and revisit it early next session. As a result of this development, those who need to carry in states with which Ohio doesn't have reciprocity will continue to need to go get other licenses. Video of the Senate debate that preceded this development, including comments by the sponsor of the reciprocity amendment, Senator Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) can be viewed here. Video of House concurrence debate can be viewed here. "HB495 was good, common sense legislation," said Jim Irvine, Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman. "As is common in politics, we didn't get everything we wanted, but we dramatically improved the law. We solved the critical issues of removing the ill-conceived 'demonstrated competency' for renewals that start next month, and achieved a workable definition of a "unloaded firearm.'" The bill will now be sent to Governor John Kasich for his signature.