COLUMBUS — Ohioans hoping for a law to allow them to carry concealed weapons will have to wait for the Ohio Supreme Court.

        After the bill's first hearing in a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Wednesday, Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale, said more hearings could be useless until justices weigh in on a Hamilton County court decision that called Ohio's gun laws unconstitutional.

        “I want to see what the courts are going to do,” Mr. Finan said. “There's not much to be gained by having hearings on a bill (that is) before the Supreme Court.”

        The bill has passed the House and is the first conceal-and-carry bill to pass a chamber of the General Assembly in seven years.

        Representatives who worked more than a year on the bill in the House say the court case shouldn't cause delays in the Senate but should instead spur more demand for a new law that allows Ohioans to carry concealed handguns. Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, emphasized the need to pass the bill in the wake of the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals ruling.

        The courts have determined “the current Ohio law about conceal and carry is unconstitutional,” Mr. Seitz said. “It is only a matter of time until Ohio has no conceal-and-carry law whatsoever.”

        The House-approved proposal would require applicants to submit to a criminal background check and training that includes classroom study and firing range experience. Those who receive permits could carry concealed weapons except in bars — with an allowance for undercover police officers — schools, universities, airport terminals, prisons and some other locations.

        The appeals court ruling affected only Hamilton County, where the original suit saying Ohio's laws prohibited people from carrying concealed weapons was brought.

        Gov. Bob Taft has said he would veto a bill that did not have the support of state law enforcement. The Buckeye Sheriffs Association supports the bill, but the State Highway Patrol, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police are opposed.

        Some legislators note, however, that when the House passed the bill, it did so with enough votes to override a veto by the governor.

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