The Senate Judiciary Committee (Civil Justice), chaired by Senator Jeff Jacobson, has announced that it will have a sixth hearing, and a possible vote, on an as-yet-to-be-seen, Amended Sub. HB274.

The hearing will occur on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 at 9:30 a.m. in the Senate Finance Hearing Room.

Two questions loom large in advance of this hearing:
1) Does it matter? House Speaker Larry Householder says the Senate Committee has had six months, and that they're out of time. He plans on adjourning the House tomorrow.

2) Will the Amended Sub. HB274 bill be better, or even worse than Sub. HB274? Multiple reports say the Senate is still working to meet a lengthy new list of new demands from Gov. Bob Taft. Those involve locking guns in moving vehicles, safe-storage education and offers of trigger locks whenever Ohioans buy a gun or apply for a permit.

Unless the Finan/Jacobson/Taft tide reverses flow, it appears the only hope for HB274 Tuesday is an "as-passed-by-the-House" amendment on the Senate floor.

A bill allowing licensed Ohioans to carry concealed handguns on their persons and in their cars appeared to be in danger yesterday as time to work out a compromise grows short.

One day after convincing the Ohio Fraternal Organization of Police to withdraw its opposition to the bill, the Senate Judiciary on Civil Justice Committee postponed today’s planned vote until Tuesday.

For more of the story and a link to the Blade article, click on the "Read More" link below.

The concealed handguns bill may get shot down by Christmas vacation.

Senate Republicans announced Wednesday that a full vote on the measure, expected today, won't come until at least next Tuesday because of last-minute negotiations surrounding the bill.

But the House is scheduled to end its session this week. House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, said his caucus currently has no plans to return and debate the major revisions made by the Senate.

"It depends on what comes out of the Senate," he said. "But there's not a whole lot of support for what the Senate has done to that bill.

"I can't help it they've had this bill for six months or more, and all of the sudden a light bulb goes off above their heads and they want to pass it."

OFCC PAC Commentary:
Three cheers to Speaker Larry Householder for telling Senators Finan and Jacobson that their time is up. They've squandered six months, and at the eleventh hour are conspiring behind closed doors with a labor union and Gov. Taft to wreck the House's bill.

Click here to read the entire Lancaster Eagle Gazette story.

The conceal-and-carry bill being debated in the legislature has become one of the state’s hottest issues. A Senate committee has been hearing testimony on the measure this week and probably will vote on it next week, said Sen. Jeff Jacobson, R-Butler Twp., the committee chairman who is negotiating the bill. It had been set for a vote today.

The House was to have adjourned this week, but might return next week to vote on the conceal-and-carry bill if it passes out of committee and the full Senate.

For a more quotes and a link to the full story, and for analysis, click on the "Read More... link below.

Legislation legalizing concealed handguns for most Ohioans was caught yesterday in a political crossfire.

Senate Civil Justice Committee Chairman Jeff Jacobson announced early in the day that the concealed-weapons bill won't be ready until next week, rather than today.

The seemingly minor delay had big political consequences: The House, which must take one more vote on the bill, was scheduled to close its session Friday.

House Republicans are resistant to extending their session to vote on the gun bill.

Though Republicans rule both chambers, they have not coordinated their legislative efforts on the concealed-weapons bill - and seem baffled by what their Republican governor may yet decide about a veto. Some said the Senate was holding several outstanding House bills hostage to force the vote.

Taft, meanwhile, refused to commit any support "until he sees the final version of the bill," said spokesman Joe Andrews.

Click here to read the entire Cleveland Plain Dealer story.

Ohioans for Concealed Carry has completed an extensive evaluation of the Substitute HB274, as adopted by the Senate Judiciary Committee (Civil Justice) on Tuesday Dec. 3.

After a full review, OFCC has made official our opposition to Substitute HB274, and called for the Senate to pass HB274 (7), which received a veto-proof majority vote in the House six months ago.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for the full press release, which has begun appearing in major media outlets across the state.

Senate President Finan and Committee Chairman Jacobson have had since March to deal with this legislation, but chose to play politics, possibly to protect Governor Taft's re-election efforts.

Now, according to this Columbus Dispatch story (subscription site - paid access only) they complain that they're out of time. But even at this eleventh hour, they have the time to pass HB274 as was passed by the House, and put the bill on Taft's desk.

A complete archive of the story may be accessed by clicking the "Read More..." link below.

Call these Senators NOW and demand that they finish their job TODAY by passing HB274 as-is.

Sen Pres Finan (614) 466-9737
Sen Jacobson, Cmte Chair (614) 466-4538
David Goodman (614) 466-8064
Louis Blessing (614) 466-8068
Steve Austria (614) 466-3780
Ben Espy (614) 466-5131
Ron Amstutz (614) 466-7505
Eric Fingerhut (614) 466-4583
Leigh Herington (614) 466-7041
Jay Hottinger (614) 466-5838
Gov. Taft: (614) 466-3555

There is a CCW poll on the Springfield News Sun website in the lower right-hand corner, asking readers "Do you support legislation to allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons?"

There is also another poll at The Sun News Papers in the lower right hand corner as well.

Still another poll can be found at the Tribune Chronicle.

Ohio Public Radio has a four minute audio clip suggesting that Governor Bob Taft may actually be reconsidering his veto threat because HB274 has become so restrictive.

Numerous people are interviewed in this audio clip (requires Real Audio Player). If you have Real Audio Player, click here for a streaming audio link from our website.

You can listen to the clip on The StateNews Website by clicking here.