Willoughby News-Herald
10/28/2003

Jury selection under way for man accused of stabbing 84-year-old neighbor

Jury selection began Monday in the case of a Mayfield Heights man accused of
stabbing his elderly female neighbor to death.

Yuriy Khanin, 21, a former resident of the Gates Mills Towers apartment complex, killed 84-year-old Ruth Stanton in April 2002 after a robbery gone bad, police said.
Khanin is charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. If convicted of murder, he is eligible for the death penalty since he committed the murder during a robbery attempt, according to police.

Mayfield Heights Detective Sgt. Chris Sonnhalter said the trial is expected
to last about four weeks, including up to one week to pick a jury.

Stanton was stabbed nine times in the neck and back, then stuffed in the trunk of her white Ford Contour in the Mayfield Road complex's parking garage, according to reports.

On Oct. 19, the City of Lorain recently played host to an open carry Potluck Picnic and 'Defense' Walk, and by all accounts, the event went extremely well. Police officers were professional and, for the most part, 100% supportive. One fire truck even blasted their horn in support as they drove by, and that show of support was seen on the 6 o'clock news in Cleveland.

Lorain made national news for an entirely different reason this week, due to an incident involving a police officer arresting a 9-year-old child for "inducing panic", after a passer-by reported he was "brandishing" what turned out to be a toy gun while playing on a park bench. Some witnesses claimed the officer aimed his own firearm at the child's head in the process of arresting him and cuffing him, but the police department denies those allegations.

The Lorain police department has now recommended that the charges against the boy be dropped, and Lorain County Prosecutor Jeff Manning (2002 OFCC PAC endorsee, and pro-HB12 voter who resigned his seat to accept this job) has done so.

All too frequently, it is often ONLY when a law enforcement group opposes something like concealed carry reform that the media give them the benefit of the doubt. It is quite possible the news accounts about this incident are inaccurate, since is is well known the media is often guilty of convicting officers for abuses on their pages before the facts are in. We would not presume to do so here. Concerns do remain over the continued prosecution of the boy's mother for obstructing official business (her son being arrested) and for resisting arrest.

In the end, it seems that the person who reported this to police as something other than child's play is the only one who should be charged for "inducing panic." Thankfully, the innocent boy was not seriously injured.

Click on the "Read More..." link below to read a pro-Lorain law enforcement/ pro-CCW letter to that city's Mayor, from a first-responder who works there.

Grassroots organizers have announced a 'Defense' Walk for next weekend in Norwood, Ohio. This Walk is being organized by Pat Feely, one of the four original plaintiffs in the Hamilton County concealed carry ban case.

The Norwood Walk will be next Saturday November 8th, 2003.

REMINDER: There are three important Walks (Youngstown, Alliance and Findlay) to support this weekend!

Click here for information on all of this weekend's Walks, for more details about Norwood, and for plans for still other Walks in the planning stages.

Judging by the frequency of letters to the editor on the topic alone, it is clear that concealed carry reform in particular, and some Republican's lack of leadership in general, are THE hot topics facing the Ohio legislature this fall.

Not Nuts, by a Long Shot
October 30, 2003
City Beat (Cincinnati)

Regarding Greg Flannery's article, Show of Force (issue of Oct. 1-7), I was there at the Northside march. He blew it, big time. "Vigilante posse?" Ridiculous! Sixty people? He can't count. We had 84 people sign in. Plus about 20 cops who didn't want to sign in for fear their departments might retaliate. They don't want to have to rely on the "Affirmative Defense" when they retire.

As for the group being all white, I had two neighborhood black men walking alongside me at one point and we discussed the problems with the neighborhood. There were many more than three women, as well as a little girl, who were directly around me. Hence it wasn't just a "vigilante posse" of white men.

If anyone was behaving badly, it was Aaron Rogers with his silly squirt gun. He was provocative, profane and rude and had no facts to back up his claims. There was only one reasonable person in the group that protested us, and I was able to have a civil conversation with him, the chap with the shaved head and beard.

Why did Flannery not mention that there were only eight anti-self defense protesters? He downsized our group by half. Why did he not mention how few of them there were? Hardly objective reporting on his behalf, in my view. It speaks poorly of your publication that the standards of honesty and detail are not higher.

You can see me in the picture used. The yellow post in the right side of the picture. My left knee is level with its top. I am wearing beige pants and a blue coat. If you look to the left of me, you'll see a red blotch -- that was the shirt of one of the neighborhood black men I was talking with. His face is hidden by the man in front of him. He marched with us because he was shot in this neighborhood near his home and wants his rights to self defense restored -- as do all who marched.

Gun nuts? Now there's objective language. Some of these people own only one gun, and it's for defense of hearth and home. For most there's no obsession with guns. They want to be able to defend themselves. Why does that get them the label "gun nuts?"

Concealed carry benefits everyone, even those who don't arm themselves. Since the weapon is concealed, the criminal doesn't know who's armed and is deterred from attacking. It works well in [45] other states. It has reduced crime in those states.

Rogers and the seven other protesters can decry "blood in the streets" and "Dodge City," but the facts don't back up the balderdash they were spewing. So I suggest you might want to research this subject a bit more and put a reporter on this to give fair coverage next time.

-- Timothy Inwood

Click on the "Read More..." link below to review two anti-concealed carry letters, including one from a Perrysburg police officer who says government should "make it tough to own guns."

While all eyes look to the General Assembly for announcement about a meeting time for the HB12 Conference Committee, defenseless Ohioans continue to be victimized, and the Ohio Crime Clock tally (located at the top-right of the www.buckeyefirearms.org homepage) continues to rack up numbers of Ohioans who would not have been victimized if HB12 were already law.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for some of the tragic crimes that have been perpetrated on the innocent this week.

This is long, but WELL worth the read. Why won't today's media, supposedly concerned with modern day racism and bigotry, report on the facts about the history of Ohio's concealed carry ban?

Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Concealed Carry Ban
September 24, 2003, 8:18 a.m.

I guess I'm not too surprised. Ohio's law prohibits carrying a concealed handgun, but allows you to raise an affirmative defense at trial that you needed to do so for self-protection. In practice, it was only a few years ago that this affirmative defense was finally successfully used at trial. Even law enforcement officials who testified during the initial trial in Hamilton County couldn't agree on what was a lawful reason to carry concealed.

Part of the opinion makes sense. They acknowledge that the right to bear arms under the Ohio Constitution is fundamental. But they also argue that fundamental rights are subject to reasonable limitations, and point to the fact that in both State v. Hogan (Ohio 1900) and State v. Nieto (Ohio 1920) the Ohio Supreme Court upheld limitations on carrying of arms as reasonable limitations. Because of constitutional conventions between 1859 (when the first ban was passed) and the present, which kept the Ohio right to keep and bear arms provision unchanged, they have a legitimate argument when they claim that this is evidence that concealed carry is not constitutionally protected.

What is disappointing is how embarrassing both Hogan and Nieto are, and how unconcerned the Ohio Supreme Court is with citing these cases.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Lawmakers divided over proposed law's loopholes

By Amy Aldridge

After a long, drawn-out battle between the Ohio House of Representatives and the Senate, progress is being made toward a final agreement on the issue of concealed handguns.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Gongwer News Service
The Ohio Report
October 28, 2003

House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) Tuesday appointed Rep. Lance Mason (D-Cleveland) to replace Rep. Charles Wilson (D-St. Clairsville) as one of three House members that will attempt to reconcile House and Senate versions of a concealed carry handgun bill.

Mr. Householder made the switch at the request of Rep. Barbara Sykes (D-Akron), president of the Legislative Black Caucus, according to Dwight Crum, spokesman for Speaker Householder. Mr. Crum said Rep. Sykes spoke with Mr. Householder and made a convincing case that a representative of the Assembly’s black caucus should sit on the six-member panel.

House Minority Leader Chris Redfern (D-Catawba Island) said he too had asked the speaker to make the switch previously. “I wanted Lance because he’s the ranking minority member of the Criminal Justice Committee and traditionally, that’s how these things are done,” he said.

The joint committee was named this month to work on HB 12 that, with certain exceptions, allows Ohioans to carry concealed weapons. As passed by the Senate, the bill has the approval of Governor Bob Taft, who said unlike the House version, it met his test of having the support of key law enforcement representatives or at least their neutrality. The other House conferees are Reps. Jim Aslanides (R-Coshocton) and Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green). The Senate conferees are Senate President Doug White (R-Manchester) and Senators Scott Nein (R-Middletown) and Marc Dann (D-Youngstown).

Commentary:
Rep. Mason's race, in and of itself, should not have played any role in his appointment to this committee. However, Mason is the Criminal Justice Committee's ranking minority party member, and tradition suggests his placement is appropriate.

As we have reported in the past, race most definitely IS an issue in Ohio's concealed carry ban, and with gun control in general. If the legislators wish to make a statement against racial prejudice, they should act quickly to overturn Ohio's 144-year old ban on carrying a concealed firearm for self-defense. As was noted by Supreme Court Justice Wanamaker in 1920 (State v. Nieto), the law's very foundation was contrived in racism.

Related Stories:
What's race got to do with it? A LOT.

Self-Defense Advocates Call on Legislature to Act in Wake of Ohio Supreme Court

Youngstown 'Defense' Walk organizer Rick Kaleda has announced that Democrat Sen. Marc Dann has accepted an invitation to participate in the Youngstown 'Defense' Walk this weekend!

Many state legislators have been invited, but Senator Dann is the first to accept. Ohioans For Concealed Carry appreciates his leadership on this issue as a member of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice which considered House Bill 12.

Sen. Dann was named by Senate President Doug White (R) as the minority member of the recently-appointed HB12 Conference Committee. He is the ONLY Senator who White appointed that has heard testimony on this legislation. We look forward to his informed leadership in that position as well.

As we reported two weeks ago, Youngstown 'Defense' Walk organizer Rick Kaleda had quite a time getting through all the bureaucratic red tape thrown at him when he began organizing his Walk. Fortunately, Kaleda endured, and his Walk is going to be held this weekend in downtown Youngstown.

This is an important Walk, because up to now, the Youngstown media has completely ignored this statewide grassroots movement. They can't really ignore it now.

The Youngstown Vindicator has posted an online poll, inquiring opinions on whether the Ohio Legislature should act by the end of the year to permit people in Ohio to carry concealed weapons. Click here to vote!

Related Articles:
Youngstown city bureaucrats infringing on multiple Constitutional rights

Is no 'Defense' Walk news good news for these Ohio media outlets?