Hi,
I'm from Ohio and the state has passed a law that allows citizens to carry firearms. Are there any state or Fed laws or Regs that prohibit anyone from carrying a firearm into a bank. We would like to put up a sign that says "No firearms allowed". Can we do this?

1st--remind me never to go to a club in Ohio
2nd--It may even be against federal regs TO bring them into a bank. Even if it's legal, I don't think a bank is restricted from prohibiting them. This might be a good post for the Ohio Compliance board. If I were a moderator or a guru, I'd have already pointed you to a reg to help you. One will likely be along shortly.

When I took the concealed handgun course, I do remember certain places that you cannot carry a gun, but I don't remember a bank being one of them, so I cannot point you to a reg. But I will tell you that if you put up the signage about not carrying a gun into the bank, make sure you have the correct signage up, and it is not just a statement of "No guns allowed." You have to have the reg wording on an easily seen sign. This is what ours says - "Pursuant to section 30.06, Penal Code, a person licensed under Article 4413(29ee), revised statutes, may not enter this property with a concealed handgun." Hey - there's where to look for it! I am in Texas, don't know if that makes a difference, and sorry for the long post.

Here is a prior thread on this topic.

I've taken the concealed weapons course too. In most state regulations, they list several places where guns are not allowed, including athletic events, courthouses, places where alcholic beverages are served. Banks are not one of them.

Sometimes there is a fear of the person being armed. People who have qualified for carry permits have to go through rigerous background checks before being issued the permit. They are not allowed to play cop. If they do, they can go to jail for 5 years. There have been no recorded cases of a legitimate person pulling out a gun and "shooting up the place." Actually, congratulations on your legislature for making the state a safer place to be. There is generally lesser crime in those areas where law abiding citizens can carry.

The following is taken from your link, Jokerman:

"It is unlawful for any person to carry a firearm upon or about his person, or in any container, except for peace officers in the performance of official duties, hunting, fishing, educational or recreational purposes or as otherwise permitted by statute"

"It is unlawful to possess a firearm in any establishment where alcoholic beverages are consumed. This does not apply to the owner or proprietor of the establishment. However, a person possessing a concealed handgun license may carry into any establishment where the sale of alcoholic beverages does not constitute the primary purpose of the business."

OK clubs are, at least, protected by law.

I'd imagine that Ohio clubs are as well, my earlier comment was in jest. My apologies to the citizens of the great state of Ohio.

I looked high and low for an answer to this question when it was posted a couple of months ago. I could find no prohibition, either in federal law or in (my) local state law.

However, .... I believe that any individual or corporate property owner can post signs prohibiting the carrying of weapons on their property. I learned this when I was researching rental property laws. This is, I presume, why the bank I work for posts a prohibition of weapons on all its buildings, including the corporate (non-banking) head office buildings.

Florida has outlined several places where a concealed weapon cannot be carried, even by someone with a permit. One of the catch-all clauses is (in addition) anywhere where it is posted that no firearms are allowed.

In Florida, there are several classifications of permits, and the posting would not affect law enforcement (on duty 24/7), and judges. Your state laws might be different.

You may want to have Board's concurrence and then check your specific state law on how to properly post.

They have all of these items..... they're called ATMs!

The majority of our branches (vast majority) are inside department and grocery stores. Ahhhhhh, retail banking!!

For what it's worth...at one of my former life institutions, we posted a "No Fire Arms Allowed" sign at every location (Kentucky). We also have a conceal carry law but the signs have never been an issue with examiners or any advocacy groups.

Some of you seem to be a little jittery. IMHO you need not worry. I have read statistics that indicate, as a whole, CCW permit carriers have a lower crime rate than the general public. See the thread in Security for Concealed Weapons.

You need to read your state law. Some state constitutions may bar this type of restriction. Hopefully the new law is online.

Good luck.

I don't think we will have to worry about this issue for a year or so, our state assembly most likely won't overturn our governor's veto on thursday.

That being said, the comments about signs stating that firearms are not allowed, made me think of a story in (I believe) Minnesota.

While I don't think it happened so much in banks, there were other businesses that posted a sign stating that firearms are not allowed on their premises. These businesses were then robbed more frequently because the criminals figured few if any people inside would be armed.

With all due respect to the well-intended discussion here, the truth is that the mere posting of a sign indicating that concealed handguns cannot be brought into the facility will not have an effect on those individuals intending to do bad things. These are the same individuals who do not obtain handgun permits/licenses-to-carry, nor would they be scared off by the sign. And a law-abiding customer or citizen who is appropriately dressed, with face and head exposed, and who might be legally and professionally caring a concealed handgun will only be antagonized by such a sign.

To have teeth, if you're going to have such a sign, you would need to have entryway metal detectors. Many banks in the Northeast that had these signs some two decades ago have long since removed them. I recall one post-robbery newspaper article had a picture of the sign, sort of as a tongue-in-cheek joke, indicating that the sign has no effect on the bad guys.

An effective security program should address such things as requiring those wearing hoods and hats with over-eye visors (such as the common baseball cap with visor, that serves to conceal the eyes) to remove the caps/hoods/hats as they enter your facility. A modest, neat, and small sign directing those entering to remove hats/hoods, etc., is reasonable, and customers would see this as a reasonable request. An obvious red flag would be the individual wearing a hooded jacket or sweatshirt who disregards the sign. Unless you have metal detectors, there really are no red flags with concealed handguns -- legal or otherwise -- and you only elevate the liability potential by posting the sign without having the concomitant controls in place to prevent and detect the handguns from entering.

Do you think that a sign or any other regulation is going to keep robbers or other cirminals from carrying a gun into your bank? Of course not, all it will do is keep out the law abiding citizen who has passed the proper background check that allows them to excersize their constitutial rights. To post such a sign is absurd at best and totally useless at worst.

With a sign, you see a handgun and you can call the police. Most banks do not want to invite firearms in their buildings. The sign puts people on notice for that.

Will a robber NOT bring in a gun, you are correct that they will. But it is one more thing a bank can do to help itself. Who knows, it might be of assistance to law enforcement too. Remember, Capone wasn't incarcerated for murder or racketeering, but tax evasion.

If you DON'T have a sign, and a bank robber shoots and injures or kills someone inside your bank, would that be additional grounds for the injured party to sue the bank?

At a place where I once worked, we were told that we had to put up a sign announcing the fact that no firearms were allowed in the building before we could bring any charges against anyone bringing a firearm into the building. This was in a city where carrying a concealed weapon is illegal. Go figure.

I have a permit to carry and in Connecticut, the only place I cannot carry a concealed firearm is a courthouse.

Carrying a concealed weapon comes with a lot of responsibility. First of all, if the state licenses someone, I would think they are a good risk and are a responsible person.

Statistically, licensed people do not commit crimes with their weapons. They prevent them!

We need to enforce our existing laws for criminals who illegally use firearms rather than try to take them away from those who legally possess them.

I believe there is a criminal penalty for taking the weapon where it is prohibited. That is more than being asked to leave. And while some proponents would say that having a concealed weapon is a deterrent to the criminal, as the good guy may shoot back, we don't want bullets flying in the lobby.

Killeen is home to the Luby's massacre, and one very out spoken person using this logic is now a state representative and was a key in getting out CCW laws passed. So I see it from both sides. But I think many people have a gun, but no idea what it is really like to point a gun at someone with the intent of shooting them, possibly killing them. I believe more people have guns, than would use them. This is not a good situation. We want the bad guy out of the lobby and gone, not a gun battle.