A bill to allow Ohioans to carry hidden guns is dead unless the Senate removes certain restrictions, including a requirement for fingerprinting, House Speaker Larry Householder said Friday.

"We had model legislation in Ohio that other states were going to use -- a fantastic bill," said Householder, a Republican from Glenford. "It goes over to the Senate and what we're about to get back is the most cumbersome, restrictive conceal-carry bill in the country. So we think we've got a problem."

OFCC PAC Commentary:
It's not too late for Senators Finan and Jacobson to do the right thing, and pass HB274 (7), as was passed by the House nearly 8 months ago. To urge them to utilize their last chance do the right thing, click here to access the Grassroots Action Guide.

Click here to read the entire Cleveland Plain Dealer story.

Hundreds of OFCC PAC volunteers worked long and hard to assist the majority in the Senate for Election 2002.

One example of the impact this effort had can be seen in northeast Ohio's 13th Senate district. Thousands of OFCC PAC voter guides were mailed to this district. Messages were posted on this website recommending Senator Armbruster over his opponent, and volunteers put up yard signs and donated their time to the Armbruster campaign.

According to a just announced and final recount of the votes, Senator Armbruster won by a scant 374 votes. Armbruster's win gives the Republican party a super-majority, allowing them the power to vote to suspend certain procedural rules in order to fast-track legislation. Senator Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon) has said that he gives "full credit to OFCC PAC and the NRA" for winning this seat.

So what have Republican Senators Finan and Jacobson done in response to this key pro-CCW grassroots action that produced such key results for them? They have conspired behind closed doors with a police labor union and Governor Taft to delay, delay, delay a vote, and then to gut HB274 until it became virtually unrecognizable.

It's not too late for Senators Finan and Jacobson to do the right thing, and pass HB274 (7), as was passed by the House nearly 8 months ago. To urge them to utilize their last chance do the right thing, click here to access the Grassroots Action Guide.

Click on the "Read More..." link below to a Cleveland Plain Dealer story on the final recount in District 13.

After publishing multiple editorials spouting the typical uninformed rhetoric opposing Concealed Carry Reform, the Columbus Dispatch has finally decided to allow a story to be printed which admits to the SUCCESS of such laws in other states.

Should readers be at all suspicious that the Dispatch waited until a Senate committee has knuckled under to a police union and Gov. Taft using the exact same fear warnings that failed to materialize on these other states? The author of the story may be emailed at jeb.phillips@dispatch.com. His boss, Ben Marrison, can be reached at bmarrison@dispatch.com. Letters to the Editor (for publications consideration) may be sent to letters@dispatch.com.

Click here to read the entire Columbus Dispatch story. (subscription site - paid access only).

Or click on the "Read More..." link below for an archived version.