Lawyer for Improper Use of a Firearm Charges in Dayton
Improper use of a firearm charges can mean serious consequences, including prison time. The criminal defense team at Gounaris Abboud is available 24/7. Get a free case analysis today.
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Gounaris Abboud: Your Dayton Defense Against Weapons Charges
To fight charges involving improperly handling firearms, you need the skilled team at Gounaris Abboud. When you hire us, you can expect:
- Empathy: Our team knows how stressful and life-altering these charges can be and will work tirelessly to help you avoid a conviction.
- Knowledge of the law: We have extensive knowledge of Ohio laws regarding the improper handling of a firearm in Dayton courts.
- Track record: Our team has helped numerous clients avoid criminal convictions and jail time.
- Client-focused: Gounaris Abboud is dedicated to offering personalized, aggressive representation with honest communication at every stage.
If you are facing gun charges or criminal charges involving weapons crimes in Ohio, turn to our team of criminal defense lawyers for trusted and tailored legal guidance. Our law firm includes a former prosecutor who understands how the other side approaches these cases, giving our clients accused of weapons crimes a real strategic advantage.
Gun charges carry serious consequences that go beyond fines and jail time. A permanent criminal record can jeopardize professional licenses, make it harder to obtain student loans, and trigger a criminal background check every time you apply for housing, employment, or other opportunities. Our criminal defense attorney team works to protect clients from all of these outcomes.
What Does Improper Handling of a Firearm Mean in Ohio?
In Ohio, unlawful possession or improper handling of a firearm means having a loaded weapon in a motor vehicle without possessing the appropriate permits or discharging a firearm while you are in or on a vehicle. It also includes possessing or transporting a concealed firearm while intoxicated and not alerting police officers that you have a concealed handgun license and a gun in the vehicle during a traffic stop.
Keep in mind that any vehicle occupant can be charged with these gun charges under Ohio law. It is also important to know that Ohio law regarding carrying concealed weapons changed in 2022 when Ohio became a constitutional carry state, and further changes took effect in April of 2023. These changes can impact how weapons charges are evaluated and what carrying concealed weapons without a license actually means for you.
Ohio became the 45th state to legalize concealed carry in 2004. Today, Ohio residents can openly carry a firearm without a permit, but carrying a concealed weapon has additional rules. Ohio residents can apply for a concealed carry license at age 21, and a criminal background check is required to obtain one. Concealed carry permits and licenses do not allow weapons in schools, police stations, airports, or other restricted locations.
It is not always easy to know when handling a firearm becomes improper. To understand what gun charges can look like in real-life scenarios, consider these examples.
Discharging a firearm while in or on a motor vehicle is a common charge in Ohio and can include shooting at animals on the road, which is only permitted under very specific circumstances and never during deer season. These rules apply whether the car is moving or not. Even if the car is parked, you may not discharge the weapon. Improper discharge of a firearm is also outlined in ORC § 2923.162, which covers additional situations beyond vehicle-related incidents.
When transporting a firearm, you can do so only in a closed box or case, in a compartment only reached by leaving the vehicle and in a secure rack made for that purpose, or with the weapon stripped or the action open or in plain sight. If the weapon is secured in any other way, you can face misdemeanor offenses.
Additionally, you cannot knowingly transport or possess a loaded firearm of any type if you are under the influence of any controlled substance or alcohol in Ohio. This part of the law applies to both passengers and drivers. In other words, if you would be considered too intoxicated to drive, then you cannot legally have a loaded weapon in the vehicle.
If you are a concealed handgun license holder, you must ensure that you alert any law enforcement officer who approaches your vehicle that you have a gun if they stop you. You also need to remain in the vehicle as instructed, keep your hands in plain sight, and not touch the concealed handgun. Individuals must be 18 years old to possess a firearm in Ohio, and selling a firearm to a minor can lead to felony charges under Ohio law.
Possessing a firearm in a school safety zone is illegal in Ohio and is a serious offense. Ohio prohibits firearm possession in school safety zones entirely, and this applies even to concealed carry license holders. Concealed carry licenses do not allow weapons in school safety zones or other restricted areas, meaning carrying a concealed weapon into these locations can result in separate felony charges on top of any other gun charges you may be facing.
There are exceptions to the improper handling laws that you need to be aware of to ensure your gun rights are protected. For instance, discharging a gun in a vehicle is allowed if you are shooting at coyotes or groundhogs at any time other than deer season.
It is also allowed if the vehicle is in an unincorporated area zoned for agricultural purposes or if you are using the gun for self-defense or in defense of another person. Ohio is a stand-your-ground state with no duty to retreat, which means a person may legally use force, including deadly force, in self-defense without first attempting to escape the situation. This can be a meaningful defense in some weapons charges cases.
If you are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, do not have a prior firearm conviction, and do not fire the weapon toward an occupied structure or a structure used for vehicular traffic, you can also potentially avoid certain gun charges. Additionally, with the appropriate permits, you can use firearms while hunting as well as at a firing range.
What Are the Penalties for Improper Handling in Ohio?
Being convicted of unlawful possession or a firearms charge can carry a variety of penalties in Ohio. Depending on your situation, penalties can range from a $150 fine and no jail time to 10 years in jail and a fine of $20,000.
The special circumstances of your alleged offense, whether you have previous weapons charges convictions, and the type of dangerous weapon used can all impact the potential legal consequences you encounter. Take a closer look at what these penalties can involve.
Ohio Revised Code classifies carrying concealed weapons offenses and unlawful possession charges based on the specific conduct and the person’s prior record. A fifth-degree felony can carry up to five years in prison, and charges can escalate to a fourth-degree felony or higher depending on the circumstances. Clients accused of carrying a concealed weapon without a license may face a first-degree misdemeanor at minimum, but gun charges can escalate significantly depending on the person’s status as a prohibited person or the location where the offense occurred.
Misdemeanor charges can have a wide range of consequences. For instance, while you can face fines without jail time, a first-degree misdemeanor charge carries up to 180 days in jail and a fine of $1,000. You may also need to take a mandatory firearms safety training course.
Most people assume that misdemeanor offenses do not involve jail terms, but they can in certain circumstances. That is why it is important to have experienced criminal defense lawyers fighting for your rights, no matter the charges you are facing. Carrying a concealed weapon without a concealed carry permit can result in a first-degree misdemeanor in Ohio, and repeated violations or aggravating factors can escalate the charge quickly.
If you allegedly committed felony conduct, like knowingly discharging a firearm in a motor vehicle or having easy access to a loaded firearm within the vehicle, you can face jail time that ranges from a few months to years behind bars, as well as thousands of dollars in fines. A first-degree felony conviction for a firearms charge can mean up to 10 years in jail and up to $20,000 in fines.
With a felony conviction, you can lose your right to bear arms. A felony can also impact your future job opportunities and travel, as well as any child custody arrangements you have.
Fifth-degree felony charges and fourth-degree felony charges are the most common felony levels for gun charges in Montgomery County and Dayton. A fifth-degree felony charge carries up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. A fourth-degree felony charge carries up to 18 months in prison. If the offense involved a defaced firearm, dangerous ordnance, or occurred in a school safety zone, charges are elevated and mandatory prison time may apply. A conviction for a firearm felony can permanently trigger a Weapons Under Disability status, which bars a person from ever possessing firearms or dangerous weapons again.
Collateral Consequences: The Ripple Effect
Serious crimes that result in felony convictions can do more than earn you fines and prison time. They can have repercussions in other areas of your life.
For example, a conviction can impact your civil rights. It can lead to firearm restrictions that essentially do not allow you to possess any dangerous weapons. You can also lose your right to vote.
After a felony conviction, you can have a much harder time finding employment. Employers may hesitate to hire someone who is a convicted felon, and you may not be able to even apply for some jobs, including those that require security clearance or handling firearms. If you are trying to get child custody, serious convictions can affect your options in that landscape, too. Professional licenses in fields like healthcare, law, and education can be suspended or revoked after a firearms conviction, and student loan difficulty is a real concern for those convicted of a drug offense or violent crime who later try to return to school.
Housing becomes an issue as well since most landlords will perform a criminal background check and may not rent a property to someone with a felony conviction. If you are thinking about going back to school, you may encounter obstacles because you might not be able to get financial aid. Additionally, a conviction for a weapons crime impacts immigration status and imposes travel restrictions. Many countries will not allow entry to convicted felons, and if you are not a U.S. citizen, you could face deportation.
Perhaps one of the most serious consequences is the stigma associated with a conviction. You will carry the weight of being seen as a felon, which could impact your psychological well-being and your chances of living the life you have planned for yourself.
Your First Step Towards Resolution
If you have been charged with gun charges or weapons crimes in Dayton, contact the team at Gounaris Abboud. We will aggressively defend your rights. We offer a free initial consultation so you can speak with a criminal defense attorney about your case with no obligation. Call us for a free case review.
How Gounaris Abboud Can Help Fight Improper Handling Charges
Our team of criminal defense lawyers relies on tried-and-true strategies to help people facing convictions. Some of the potential defense strategies we can use include:
In cases involving gun charges, an effective defense strategy can be to create reasonable doubt by challenging the evidence against you. Our team can investigate the credibility of the laboratories where the evidence was processed and look into the law enforcement officers involved in the arrest to see whether they are reliable. Prosecutors in criminal cases involving weapons charges often rely on evidence gathered at a traffic stop, and if law enforcement failed to read Miranda Rights during the arrest, any statements made by the accused may not be usable in court.
If you acted in self-defense, we will ensure that it is taken into account. We can gather the necessary evidence to demonstrate that you or another person faced the risk of suffering bodily harm and that reasonable fear of physical injury led you to act as you did. Ohio is a stand-your-ground state, which means our criminal defense attorney team can use self-defense arguments without requiring you to show that you attempted to retreat first. This is an important protection for Ohio residents facing charges tied to a defensive use of a firearm.
The gun could have discharged unintentionally. We can offer the defense that local prosecutors can’t know your state of mind at the time of the alleged offense, so they can’t prove the mental state required to obtain a conviction.
At Gounaris Abboud, we can look into whether law enforcement used appropriate methods to get evidence or if they did so by violating your rights. If they didn’t have court orders to search your property, for example, any evidence they obtained from said property could be excluded.
We can promptly file a motion with the court to suppress it. Often, not allowing that evidence in is enough to get charges dropped.
Protecting Your Rights: The Gounaris Abboud Process
If you’ve been charged with improper handling of a firearm, the criminal defense team at Gounaris Abboud can offer our decades of experience to help you beat the charges. But how do we begin the process of defending you?
Detailed Investigation
It all starts with our lawyers conducting a thorough investigation into all aspects of the case. We look at your motor vehicle, the kind of dangerous weapon you had in your possession, whether you were on public or private property when the alleged offense occurred, and a variety of other factors to help us plan the most appropriate defense strategy. Local familiarity with judges and prosecutors in Montgomery County and Dayton local courts can affect negotiation outcomes for gun charges. Our former prosecutor background gives us insight into how the judicial system approaches these cases.
Professional Witness Testimony
When needed, we work closely with knowledgeable firearm professionals who can provide information on everything from the type of weapon involved to any other details we need to know. These professional witnesses can also testify in court to support your case. In some cases, expert testimony about carrying concealed weapons, firearms safety training, or proper storage can make the difference in how a jury trial unfolds.
Negotiation Skills
We have decades of combined experience negotiating with prosecutors to get our clients the best possible outcomes. We know the challenges that a person convicted of a felony can face throughout the rest of their life, including losing their right to bear arms, so we leverage our experience and resources to negotiate for reduced charges, minimize legal consequences, and obtain alternatives to prison time. Our team is experienced in negotiating situations where a client might otherwise plead guilty without fully understanding the long-term collateral consequences of doing so.
Trial Experience
Because we have trial experience, we’ll never hesitate to take that path if it’s in your best interests to do so. We can handle appeals as well, allowing you to receive comprehensive and dedicated representation from our team throughout the entirety of the case. You’ll never have to worry about starting from zero with another lawyer.
Firearm Safety: Essential Guidelines for Ohioans
Possessing firearms is a responsibility that must be taken seriously, and that includes paying attention to firearm safety. One of the most important things to remember when handling firearms is that you should treat each one like it is loaded, even if you are certain it is not. For instance, do not point it at yourself or others.
To transport a gun in your motor vehicle, it must be in a case or box, in a compartment that you can only access by leaving the vehicle, in plain sight in a rack or holster made expressly for that purpose, or stripped if it is at least 24 inches long with a barrel of at least 18 inches. Ohio law prohibits transporting a loaded weapon in a vehicle unless you meet specific legal requirements. Violating these rules can result in carrying concealed weapons charges or other gun charges even if you have a concealed carry permit.
Safely storing your firearm at home is also important. Although Ohio does not have any laws in place that require you to have a safe storage area with a lock, it is a good idea to do so. A gun that is safely stored can prevent accidents. A firearms dealer is required by federal law to conduct a background check before selling a firearm, and purchasing a gun through unauthorized channels can result in additional criminal charges for unlawful possession.
The Gounaris Abboud Difference
When facing misdemeanor or felony charges, contact our criminal defense lawyers to receive the quality legal representation you deserve. We bring a wealth of benefits to the table, such as:
- Over 50 years of combined legal experience representing clients facing all manner of criminal charges
- A proven track record of success helping many clients avoid the worst consequences of criminal convictions
- Personalized attention and advocacy so you are never just another case
- Aggressive protection of your rights regardless of your charges
- Commitment to transparency, keeping you fully updated on your case at all times
General practitioners are not recommended for defense against firearms charges. Specialization in weapons crimes and gun charges matters because these cases involve specific Ohio Revised Code provisions, federal laws, and local court procedures that a generalist may not be fully equipped to handle. Our law firm focuses on criminal defense and weapons charges cases in Dayton and Montgomery County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. In Ohio, the firearm has to be loaded to be convicted, but law enforcement won’t check it at the scene, so you can still be charged.
Yes, it’s possible for your record to be sealed. There may be exceptions depending on whether you have prior convictions.
Yes. The concealed carry law allows you to openly carry a firearm without needing a concealed handgun license as long as you are a qualifying adult. However, carrying a concealed weapon still has specific rules, and carrying concealed weapons without proper documentation or in restricted areas like a school safety zone can still result in criminal charges.
In Ohio, the severity of gun charges depends on factors like the type of weapon, where the offense occurred, and the person’s prior record. Carrying a concealed weapon without a concealed carry permit is typically a first-degree misdemeanor. However, certain circumstances, such as possessing dangerous ordnance, having a defaced firearm, or committing a gun charge in a school safety zone, can elevate the offense to a fifth-degree felony or higher. A fourth-degree felony or higher also applies when the accused is a prohibited person, such as someone with a prior drug offense or violent crime conviction.
Yes. A firearm conviction can permanently affect your ability to obtain or renew a concealed carry license or concealed carry permit in Ohio. A conviction for a felony related to weapons crimes can trigger a Weapons Under Disability status, which bars you from possessing any firearms or dangerous weapons under Ohio law. Even a first-degree misdemeanor conviction for carrying a concealed weapon may affect your eligibility for a concealed handgun license depending on your full criminal background check history. That is why fighting these charges with an experienced defense lawyer from the start matters so much.
Helpful Resources
Ohio Revised Code 2923.16
This code explains Ohio laws regarding improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Learn about the law enforcement agency that investigates gun law violations.