JustaShooter wrote:But, open carry without a license is permitted on public lands, and is not "authorized by the Ohio Revised Code". The way this regulation is written appears to me to restrict possession in violation of ORC 9.68.
Actually 9.68 does authorize open carry. A law that says you may do something is authorizing you to do that thing.
(A)...Except as specifically provided by the United States Constitution, Ohio Constitution, state law, or federal law, a person, without further license, permission, restriction, delay, or process, may own, possess, purchase, sell, transfer, transport, store, or keep any firearm, part of a firearm, its components, and its ammunition.
(C)(1)The possession, transporting, or carrying of firearms, their components, or their ammunition include, but are not limited to, the possession, transporting, or carrying, openly or concealed on a person's person or concealed ready at hand, of firearms, their components, or their ammunition.
Is 9.68 the only thing authorizing open carry? That's a good academic discussion (I would argue no) but not really relevant. Fact is, there is a section of the revised code that explicitly allows one to openly carry. The rules allow "other persons" authorized by the Revised Code to carry firearms. It's not exactly an elegant rule but I really don't see a preemption conflict.