A year-old Ohio law letting more people carry concealed guns has ignited a debate there over whether banks posting "no guns" signs in branch windows may attract would-be robbers rather than deter them.
Most states used to severely restrict "concealed carry" to off-duty law officers and the like. But Ohio, like 37 other states, now makes such licenses available to most people.
The licenses let them take hidden weapons anywhere except to schools, hospitals, courthouses, certain other structures - and banks or other companies that post no-guns signs. And banks have the right not to serve violators, said Michael E. Brooks, a Federal Bureau Investigation spokesman for the Columbus and Cincinnati region.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry claims that such signs in banks may attract armed robbers.
"Take-over style robberies are on the rise here, and many of the banks with signs are the ones getting robbed," said a spokesman for the group, Ken Hanson of the Firestone, Brhem, Hanson, Nelson, Wolf & Young LLP law firm in Delaware, Ohio.
"If a criminal is looking for a place to rob, and they are given a choice, which option are they going to choose - the place 'possibly with guns' or the place 'definitely without guns?' "
As evidence, admittedly inconclusive, Mr. Hanson cites FBI data: Robbers threatened tellers or patrons with guns in 28% of the bank jobs last year in the 10-county Columbus area, up from an average of about 20% in previous years.
"At least it is clear that the signs do not deter criminals," Mr. Hanson said.
Darrin Steinmann, vice president of investigations at Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, adamantly disputes the idea that the signs attract robbers. The unit of $91 billion-asset Fifth Third Bancorp posts such signs in its branches in Ohio and northern Kentucky.
"I just think there are certain banks in certain locations that are more likely to get robbed than others," Mr. Steinmann said. "In fact, we've had situations where uniformed police officers carrying weapons were inside banking centers, and these centers were still robbed."
Fifth Third posts "no guns" signs to lessen the chance that someone will get hurt in any kind of situation, he said.
So does FirstMerit Bank, a unit of $10.2 billion-asset FirstMerit Bancorp in Akron, Ohio, which also prohibits other weapons such as switchblades, swords, and martial arts implements, according to spokesman, Jacque Sir Louis.
Mr. Brooks, the FBI spokesman, said that though armed robberies have been rising in the Columbus and Cincinnati region, he did not want to discuss the prudence of placing "no guns" signs in bank branches.
But Robert Hawk, an FBI spokesman for the Cleveland region, said the signs make no difference. "People rob banks primarily for one reason, to get money for drugs or some other addiction," Mr. Hawk said. "They couldn't care less whether or not there was a sign on the door."
Mr. Hawk said armed bank robberies have not risen in the Cleveland region since the law went into effect. He did not give specific figures.
Huntington National Bank, a unit of $32 billion-asset Huntington Bancshares Inc. in Columbus, has branches in four states with similar laws but has not posted "no guns" signs in any of them, said Jay Gould, senior vice president of investor relations.
"We just have yet to find that those are effective deterrents," Mr. Gould said. Huntington relies on "sophisticated security systems" to ensure the safety of its customers and employees, he said.
He would not discuss whether such signs would attract robbers.
In Texas, the posting of "no guns" signs in banks and other businesses after a similar law was adopted in 1996 triggered an uproar from gun owners, said Jim Dark, the executive director of the Texas State Rifle Association. A lot of banks and companies have removed their signs, he said.
Now, Mr. Dark said, he hears only of "milder" protests. For example, he said, some gun owners encountering "no guns" signs that are still displayed place "No guns, no dollars" cards on the counters and take their business elsewhere.
"While we don't disagree with the notion that private property owners have the right to post such signs, we don't think it's a smart idea to do it," Mr. Dark said. "It's a liability issue: when a property owner tells everyone that they're effectively becoming responsible for their security, one of these days someone is going to get shot, and the property owner is going to be sued."
Mr. Hanson of the Ohio group said bills have been introduced in Georgia and Arizona, which both license residents to carry concealed weapons, to hold property owners liable if they post "no guns" signs and someone is injured or killed through a criminal act on the premises.
"Banks and other companies shouldn't take away the constitutional and statutory rights of citizens to defend themselves," Mr. Hanson said.
But the FBI's Mr. Brooks said the bureau discourages people from taking the law into their own hands by turning robberies into gunfights.
"We even train our agents not to confront someone with a gun inside a bank," Mr. Brooks said. "Our aim is to get the robber outside of the bank" and then make an arrest.
Fifth Third's Mr. Steinmann said that his bank rightly trains its employees not to fight robbers but just hand them the money. He points to another FBI statistic that he contends backs up that strategy: Out of the 7,465 U.S. bank robberies committed in 2003, fewer than 2% resulted in injury or death.
"Our No. 1 priority is the protection of our employees and customers," Mr. Steinmann said.
