Use of Force and Firearm-Bearer Endorsement
Armed only with an endorsement
Ohio does not license "armed investigators" as a separate category. Under R.C. 4749.10, a registered employee may carry a firearm while on duty only if a firearm-bearer endorsement has been issued on that registration by PISGS. Requirements include completing a firearms training program approved by the Director of Public Safety, meeting the age and background qualifications, and requalifying on the schedule set by statute and rule. The endorsement attaches to the individual and to duty status; it does not travel with the company license, and it does not create authority beyond what an ordinary citizen possesses.
Use of force mirrors Ohio's citizen rules, chiefly R.C. 2901.05. Deadly force is justified only to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm to oneself or another, and Ohio does not impose a general duty to retreat from a place where the person is lawfully present, though every case is fact-specific. Force to protect property is sharply limited. An investigator never has police authority to detain, search, or arrest on suspicion, and a citizen's arrest is a liability minefield.
Traps: carrying while the endorsement is suspended for a missed requalification; believing a concealed-handgun license substitutes for the endorsement during on-duty work (it does not); and treating the endorsement as authorization to carry at a client site that bans firearms.
Rule of thumb: armed on duty = registered + endorsed + currently qualified + within employer policy. If any one of those four fails, the firearm stays locked up.