If you hold a concealed handgun license, you are an active-duty member carrying a military identification card and documentation of firearms training,...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
If you hold a concealed handgun license, you are an active-duty member carrying a military identification card and documentation of firearms training, or you are a qualifying adult Ohio treats as a license holder, you may keep a loaded handgun in your vehicle. That exemption ends if you knowingly enter a place where the license does not authorize carry. Everyone else carries a firearm unloaded, stowed in one of four listed ways, with no locked container required.
These rules apply to anyone who transports or has a firearm in a motor vehicle, and R.C. 2923.16(F)(5) splits people into two groups. In this guide, permitless carry means carrying without a license.
The first group, which may have a loaded handgun in the vehicle, is made up of these people:
Under R.C. 2923.125(D)(1)(b), an applicant must be at least 21 years old to receive the license. Everyone else is in the second group: a person who is not a license holder, not an active-duty member with training documentation, and not a qualifying adult carrying or having a handgun that is not a restricted firearm concealed on the person or ready at hand. A person who may not lawfully possess the firearm has no lawful way to transport it under R.C. 2923.16(C).
For the first group, R.C. 2923.16(F)(5) lifts divisions (B) and (C), so a loaded handgun may ride in the vehicle. That holds only while the person is not knowingly in a place where a concealed handgun license does not authorize carry.
For the second group, R.C. 2923.16(B) bars a loaded firearm the operator or any passenger can reach without leaving the vehicle. A person in this group may transport a firearm only if the person may lawfully possess it and it is unloaded. It must also be carried in one of four ways listed in R.C. 2923.16(C).
Ohio requires no locked container. R.C. 2923.16(C) has no purpose test and does not ask why the firearm is being transported or where it is going.
Violations are graded by division under R.C. 2923.16(I). An unloaded-transport violation of division (C) is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. A loaded firearm accessible without leaving the vehicle, in violation of division (B), is a felony of the fourth degree.
The exemption reaches only a handgun, so a rifle or shotgun rides unloaded and stowed in one of the four listed ways. A qualifying adult counts as a license holder only while the handgun is concealed on the person or ready at hand and is not a restricted firearm.
Even inside the exemption, division (D) of R.C. 2923.16, which bars a loaded handgun while under the influence, still applies. The stop duties in division (E) of R.C. 2923.16 also still apply.
Under 18 U.S.C. 926A, a person not otherwise prohibited may transport a firearm for any lawful purpose between two places where the person may lawfully possess and carry it. The firearm must be unloaded, and neither it nor its ammunition may be readily or directly accessible from the passenger compartment.
| Situation | Rule | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| License holder, qualifying active-duty member, or qualifying adult with a handgun | Loaded handgun allowed unless knowingly in a place where the license does not authorize carry | |
| Anyone outside that exemption | Unloaded, stowed in a listed way, and only if the person may lawfully possess the firearm | |
| Rifle or shotgun | Must be unloaded; the license exemption covers only a handgun | |
| Glove box or console, outside the exemption | Not named; one the driver can reach from the seat is not a compartment reachable only by leaving the vehicle | |
| Transport under federal law | Unloaded and not readily accessible |
Under R.C. 2923.16, a concealed handgun license holder, or an active-duty member of the armed forces carrying a military identification card and documentation of firearms training, may transport or have a loaded handgun in a motor vehicle, except while the handgun is knowingly in a place described in R.C. 2923.126(B). A qualifying adult is treated as a license holder for that exemption only while carrying or having, concealed on the person or ready at hand, a handgun that is not a restricted firearm. Under R.C. 2923.111(B)(3), a qualifying adult carrying without a license has the same carry rights, and is subject to the same restrictions, as a person who has been issued a concealed handgun license. Under R.C. 2923.125(D)(1)(l), a license applicant must submit a competency certification and a certification of having read the safety pamphlet before a license can issue. Under R.C. 2923.125(G)(1), that course must include at least eight hours of training in the safe handling and use of a firearm. Under R.C. 2923.125(G)(1), the course must cover safe handling and storage of handguns and ammunition, safe handling of ammunition, the knowledge, skills, and attitude to shoot safely, gun handling training, and a minimum of two hours of in-person range time and live-fire training. Under R.C. 2923.125(G)(1)(e), the required course must include live-fire training. Under R.C. 109.69(B)(3), Ohio recognizes a valid concealed handgun license from any other license-issuing state for a nonresident who is temporarily in Ohio, whether or not Ohio has a formal reciprocity agreement with that state.
An unloaded firearm may go in a closed package, box, or case, or in a compartment reachable only by leaving the vehicle. R.C. 2923.16 names no glove box or console, and one the driver can reach from the seat is not such a compartment.
No. Ohio requires no locked container for unloaded transport.
No. R.C. 2923.16(B) forbids a loaded, accessible long gun, and the license exemption reaches only a handgun.
No. Division (D) of R.C. 2923.16 still applies to a person in the exemption. A violation is a felony of the fifth degree, or of the fourth degree if the loaded handgun is concealed on the person.
No. R.C. 2923.16(C) turns on lawful possession, an unloaded firearm, and a listed manner of carry, not on why the firearm is being transported.
R.C. 2923.16 governs a motor vehicle. A boat is governed by a separate Ohio statute, which bars a loaded firearm accessible to the operator or any passenger. Otherwise a firearm in a boat must be unloaded and carried in a closed package, box, or case, or in plain sight with the action opened or the weapon stripped. An all-purpose vehicle appears in R.C. 2923.16 only in two hunting exceptions for a person holding an all-purpose vehicle permit.
This page covers one part of our Ohio concealed carry guide.
Read the complete Ohio guideBrowse local instructors offering state-approved training in your area. Book online, complete your training, and get one step closer to your concealed carry permit.