Supporters say the measure is about allowing people who legally have concealed weapons to carry the firearms into restaurants that happen to serve alcohol, instead of leaving them behind in a
vehicle.

Opponents have said it will lead to a dangerous mix of booze and firearms.

Businesses don’t have to allow the weapons, and facilities home to Ohio’s major professional sports teams plan to continue to ban weapons for safety reasons.

The law also allows a person with the proper permit to have a loaded handgun in a vehicle even if the gun is not secured in a holster.

Minority Democrats argued that legalizing guns would simply add to an already volatile situation and it would be hard to enforce the provision banning gun carriers from actually drinking.

Two democrats told personal stories of gun violence hurting their families. One Republican, Todd McKenny, joined the Democrats in criticizing the bill and voting no.

The measure passed on a close-to-party-line vote, 56 to 39.

But a key anti-smoking activist says it’s not what Ohioans want. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports.

Some legislators believe the measure is un-constitutional, so they’re calling for changes.

But a citizens group that wrote the measure has been insisting that lawmakers pass it without major changes. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports

Jane Andrews of Knoxville, Tennessee came to cheer on both University of Tennessee and her husband’s alma mater Virginia Tech. Win or lose, Andrews says she is staying the whole weekend.

“It’s fun,” Andews says. “We just got here last night but people have been really great. The downtown area is great and we’ve got a lot planned for tomorrow because we plan on being here until Sunday.”

Columbus resident John Chuck says he is not rooting for any of the teams playing at Nationwide but he did not want to miss out on the fun. “Just came out to see all the action,” Chuck says. “Everybody’s in town. I figured it’s St. Patty’s Day Eve and I’d get on down here and watch the game.”

Arena District bars are adjusting to the influx of out of towners by adding more staff and security, and adjusting hours of operation. Frog Bear Wild Boar Bar manager Jason Eggemen says customers arrived as early as 8 a.m.

“We have actually 17 people just bartending in excess of all the security bar backs and servers,” Eggeman says. “So obviously we’re way more staffed then we normally would be. So it’s been a pretty interesting day so far.”

Just next door to Frog Bear Wild Boar is O’Shaughnessy’s tavern. The tavern’s Matt Laurems says it set up an outdoor food stand selling everything from burgers to cookies.

“Basically when the area is overwhelmed we try to take some of the burden of food concession from inside because there is not enough seating and people are hungry when you have 20000 people all at once and just a few restaurants,” Laurems says.

He says even though he expects O’Shaughnessy’s to be packed with people this weekend, he thinks the turnout could have been better if Columbus had received higher ranked teams.

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Now the advocates are launching a drive to have voters okay a crackdown. The drive has already begun with the collection of more than 200,000 petition signatures.

That’s the first of two steps that could put a measure onto the November ballot. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports