Jason Storey's odyssey of terror began about 10 p.m. when he was carjacked by two masked men with a gun in the parking lot of Walgreens on West Market Street. He was ordered at gunpoint to get in his 2003 Pontiac Grand Am and drive them to a local bank. They forced him to make a withdrawal from the automatic teller machine. He withdrew $10 because he only had $16 in his account.

They then locked Storey in the trunk of his car and drove around for about 45 minutes making a few stops along the way, according to Storey. During one of the stops, police said the two suspects picked up another person.

The kidnappers finally stopped the vehicle on a dead-end road off Front Street, and the assailant with the gun forced Storey to walk down the road and handcuffed both of his arms around a tree.

Storey said he was certain one of his kidnappers wanted to kill him, but the other assailant didn't want to harm him.

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Police said Jack K. George, a delivery worker for Domino's Pizza, was confronted by two men at 1801 Brookside Drive at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, and one of the suspects hit him in the head with a wooden club.

Police said George had pulled into a driveway at the Brookside Drive residence to deliver two pizzas when he was approached by a man.

That man asked George to follow him to the rear of the home so he could get money to pay for the pizzas. After getting to the back of the house, George said the man turned to walk to the front of the house and when George turned to look, he was struck in the head.

George fell to the ground and dropped a bag containing the pizzas. He was then confronted by a man with a wooden club who asked George several times for his money bag.

Meanwhile, in a state that allows its law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense, a different outcome resulted when this elderly man was confronted by a man with a knife:

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As the Ohio General Assembly looks ahead to committee consideration of HB12 and SB24, we believe serious consideration should be given to removing language involving the creation of "victim zones" in Ohio, where persons are prohibited from exercising their constitutional right to self-defense.

Check out this latest account of a woman being attacked in a church:

Greensboro Daily News, Greensboro, NC

Addie Whitesides, a church cleaning woman in Charlotte, N.C., was at work before dawn when she came face to face with a prowler. Screaming, Mrs. Whitesides ran for the door, followed by the man. Once outside she drew a pistol and held it on the intruder until police arrived. She has carried the gun since the church was broken into recently.

In case you missed them, here are three more recently published stories detailing the dangers of creating victim zones:

Tale of Two Cities: Lima woman raped, OKC woman escapes attack in church

Sanford (NC) church congregation robbed at gunpoint; one man shot

Purses being stolen outside day cares

• Every day that Ohio's Republican leadership waits to pass concealed carry reform increases the defenseless victim list in our state. Ohio's unconstitutional ban on carrying a concealed weapon is, like all other laws, continually ignored by the very criminals the law seeks to restrain.

Thomas D. White, 41, of 2548 Parkview Ave., Toledo, was arraigned yesterday after he was accused of severely beating a central-city woman in an assault during which he allegedly bound her hands and feet with duct tape and a coat hanger before dropping her off three miles from where the incident occurred.

The 44-year-old victim suffered two broken hands, a broken jaw, several broken fingers, a broken bone in her neck, and numerous cuts and scratches. She was treated at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center and is recovering in a convalescent home.

The woman was walking home from a bar about 2 a.m. Jan. 8 when a man offered to give her a ride in the area of Detroit and Belmont avenues. He then asked if she wanted to get a drink. When she agreed, he took her to his apartment.

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Jeremy W. White, of 4936 Bordeauz Lane (Mason), and Shane P. Prince, of 3505 W. Ohio, robbed a Maineville woman at gunpoint Nov. 13 after following her from her driveway into her garage.

The next day, they robbed residents at apartment complexes near where Prince lived.

This week, Prince and White were sentenced to 9 and 10 years respectively.

Meanwhile, in a state that allows law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense, a shockingly different outcome occurred in this attempted robbery:

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A Thursday story from Cincinnati's WXIX FOX Channel 19 makes it clear: the Ohio House is expected to pass HB12, a concealed weapons bill introduced this week.

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) told FOX19 News he expects his chamber sometime soon will pass a bill that would have county sheriffs grant licenses allowing people to carry concealed weapons.

Under current Ohio law, only police have that clear right. Anyone else is subject to arrest, and must prove to a judge the need to carry a concealed weapon.

Opponents of the current law believe it's unconstitutional (to date, four judges have agreed). Their lawsuit is scheduled to be considered by the Ohio Supreme Court.

But chances in the Senate are less certain. And Governor Taft has said he'll veto the bill because it's opposed by the Ohio State Patrol, which believes it would increase violence.

Householder's response is that in the more than 40 states that already allow concealed carry, criminals are deterred by not knowing whether their next victim might be able to fire back.

A Senate committee has approved the nomination of Ohio Supreme Court
Justice Deborah Cook for a federal appeals judgeship in Cincinnati.

As OFCC PAC has been reporting for the past two months, once Justice Cook is confirmed by the full Senate, it will be up to Gov. Taft to name replacement for her on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Click here to read the full story from the Ohio News Network.

The Toledo Blade has written their latest editorial opposing concealed carry reform.

While their rhetoric about the threat to public safety is not new, their theories about why the House and Senate leadership are allowing the issue to come up, despite saying it wasn't a priority, are interesting.

As always, educated letters to the editor of the Blade may be emailed by >clicking here.

Sen. Lynn Wachtmann, a Republican from Napoleon, introduced SB24 on Wednesday, along with 9 co-sponsors, that would allow citizens to carry concealed weapons.

"It's substantially similar to the bill he introduced last year," said a Wachtmann aide. "The changes are minor and technical in nature."

OFCC PAC Commentary:
For those of you who are new to the history, SB130 is almost verbatim to the language that HB274 was "introduced as" before it received significant re-design, and includes FBI fingerprints. We believe SB24 will either be heavily modified in the Senate, or more likely, the Senate will wait for HB12 to be passed out of the Ohio House.

We applaud the Senate's efforts to keep the issue of legal self-defense via concealed carry reform on the forefront.

Special thanks to those OFCC and OFCC PAC supporters who took the time to contact their Senators encouraging co-sponsorship of this bill.

If you wish to review read the bill for yourself:
Click here for to view SB24 on the Senate's Internet website.

Cincinnati officers arrested almost 30 percent fewer suspects - about 18,000 people - last year, compared with 2000. Emergency calls increased more than 17 percent and violent crimes - murders, rapes and aggravated assaults, for example - jumped 40 percent.

Criminal cases in Hamilton County courts declined 20 percent between 2000 and last year. Arrests by city police drive the county court workload.

The decline in court cases is "the most conclusive proof I've seen" of a police work slowdown, said Hamilton County Court Administrator Mike Walton. "The police were not making arrests."

The increase in crime doesn't surprise Stefanie Sunderland, a Northside resident who has been crusading on behalf of her neighborhood. She sees it every day.

Officers are reluctant to go after big groups of African-Americans, fearing they'll be charged with racial profiling in the wake of a Justice Department civil rights investigation, Sunderland said. She barely sees a neighborhood officer who used to be the most aggressive cop she knew.

"I think what's happening is just appalling," Sunderland said. "Basically we have given people license to commit criminal acts in our neighborhood without repercussion.

"We might as well put up a sign in the neighborhood and say, "Welcome criminals."

OFCC PAC Commentary:
Due to the unconstitutional ban on carrying a concealed weapon for self-defense, Hamilton County, and the entire state of Ohio, are already hanging a sign that says "Welcome criminals".

And Bob Taft laments at the decline in revenue from tourism?

Click here to read the entire story from the Cincinnati Enquirer.