COLUMBUS — The Ohio House is close to voting on a concealed weapons bill — the first time in seven years that either legislative chamber will go on the record on the issue.

        The House Civil & Commercial Law Committee has scheduled a vote Wednesday. The bill would permit most Ohioans to carry concealed weapons, and once it clears the committee, it likely will be scheduled for a vote by the full House.

        After that, its future is cloudy.

        Senate President Richard Finan felt his chamber got burned by the House in 1995, when the Senate passed a concealed-weapons bill, but it never moved out of a House committee under then-Speaker Jo Ann Davidson.

        The current speaker, Larry Householder, supports the idea of allowing Ohioans to carry concealed weapons and has said that he would allow a vote on a bill that had broad support in his Republican caucus.

        Should the bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. James Aslanides of Coshocton, make it through the Senate, it still faces opposition from Gov. Bob Taft. He will not sign a bill that is opposed by major law enforcement groups, such as the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the State Highway Patrol and the state's biggest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police.

        All the groups remain opposed to the bill.

        Since the 1995 Senate vote, no conceal-carry legislation has reached the floor of the House or the Senate. Mr. Finan, its president since 1997, has insisted the House pass the legislation first, while Ms. Davidson, who left last year because of term limits, never allowed a vote.

        Mr. Aslanides' bill, introduced last May, was at least the fourth such bill offered since 1995. Wednesday's hearing is the 12th this bill has received.

        Supporters say law-abiding Ohioans should be allowed to carry the guns they legally own. Opponents say the practice will lead to an increase in shootings — both accidental and intentional.

        Should the bill become law, Ohioans would be allowed to carry concealed weapons after passing a background check conducted through a statewide police computer system and completing safety training.

        The bill will be amended before Wednesday's scheduled vote, committee Chairman John Willamowski, a Lima Republican, said.

        One amendment would change the training portion of the bill to reflect programs offered by the National Rifle Association. The training includes classroom study, firing range time and instruction in the legal aspects of carrying a weapon.

        The other amendment would allow applicants for permits to volunteer to be fingerprinted. Currently, applicants must submit to fingerprinting only if they continue the process after failing a criminal check.

        “We're going to say you can do it that way, or if you have no problem with fingerprinting, you can do it from the get-go,” Willamowski said.

        However, volunteering for fingerprinting isn't likely to weed out more criminals who should not carry guns, said Toby Hoover, director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.

        “If you really had something wrong with your background, would you volunteer?” Hoover said.

        Hoover said the bill could not be rewritten to her group's satisfaction as long as it allows concealed weapons.

        “Carry-conceal is simply putting Ohioans at a risk they don't need to be at. I don't understand why our legislators want to put us more at risk,” she said.

        Should the Legislature send the bill to Taft's desk, a group of concealed-weapons supporters hopes he signs it. Ohioans for Concealed Carry President Jeff Garvas said he would rally his group to “remind him which side of the aisle he's on.”

        “If you have a right to purchase a gun, you should have the right to carry a gun,” Garvas said.

        Taft spokeswoman Mary Anne Sharkey said Taft's position still would depend on the views of the FOP, the police chiefs and the Highway Patrol. Should one group drop its opposition, Taft would still consider the views of the others, Sharkey said.

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