I still wouldn't recommend it for beginners; the sheer weight of all the features and idiosyncrasies (not to mention the occasionally esoteric rules) make it a pretty substantial undertaking to use the language correctly. A good language for a beginner should allow them to focus on learning fundamental concepts, rather than forcing them to attend to countless details like always giving your base classes a virtual destructor and religiously checking buffer lengths and pointers in an attempt to avoid the nasal demons.

I'll readily agree that C++ is an awkward and complicated language that is absolutely not suitable for beginners, but how can it try to be Java? C++ predates Java by over a decade.

How about having a tendency to come up with stupid ideas under pressure? The problem here wouldn't be intelligence, but a lack of discipline. Strong reasoning ability doesn't imply an incapacity for working within a control structure or following orders in a crisis.

It is legal to carry concealed in Ohio if you have the appropriate license. Ohio, like most states, has a "shall-issue" licensing law, which requires the state to grant a license to every applicant not disqualified by a criminal conviction or the like, so this is generally not a problem.

Unconcealed carry is legal in a lot of states, and while police generally don't like it and will often do their best to discourage the practice, in most places they would be treading on thin ice legally to actually attempt to charge you with anything.