Guns In Your Car
ORC 2923.16 — what permitless carry did and did not change
Before 2022 this section was the one that caught people out, because a handgun could be legal to own, legal to carry on foot, and still charged the moment it went into a car loaded. Permitless carry rewrote most of that, but not all of it, and what survived is the part worth knowing.
- A qualifying adult, meaning twenty one or over and not prohibited from possessing a firearm, may have a loaded concealed handgun in a vehicle. The old transport restrictions no longer reach them.
- The duty to disclose still applies. If the stop is for a law enforcement purpose, the concealed handgun still has to be disclosed.
- Hands stay in plain sight from the moment the officer starts approaching.
- Where the vehicle is going still matters. A school zone, a courthouse, or a police station does not stop being off limits because you are in a car.
Long guns are a separate question from handguns. The concealed carry rules are written around handguns, and how a rifle or shotgun may ride in a vehicle is governed by its own divisions of the same section.
“Before I reach for anything, there is a firearm in the vehicle and I am a qualifying adult. Tell me how you want me to proceed.”
This section is one of the most amended in the chapter. Anything written before June 2022 about guns in cars in Ohio describes rules that were replaced.
Sources for this section (5)
- ORC 2923.16 — Improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle
- ORC 2923.111 — Concealed carry by qualifying adults without a license
- ORC 2923.12 — Carrying concealed weapons
- ORC 2923.126 — Where a concealed handgun may not be carried
- ORC 2923.122 — Weapons in a school safety zone
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.