Early reports from Columbus are that we had the second-highest 'Defense' Walk attendance to date, as over 120 OFCC supporters openly carried their firearms around the State Capitol today (plus probably 10-15 children who were, of course, not armed).

Political insiders know it is hard to get conservatives to hold any type of rally. And this was a very unique rally. Why?

Today's 'Defense' Walk was in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, and in the middle of the state. To top it all off, we asked supporters to show up carrying a firearm.
Having more than 120 people show up at an event like this is nothing short of success!

"Even the reporters were amazed we got that many people out there on a weekday," said Gerard Valentino, OFCC's Central Ohio Coordinator. "I used it as an example of how strongly Ohioans believe in this
issue."

Numerous personalities from the news media showed up, including Columbus
television channels 6 and 10, AM 610 WTVN and Ohio Public Radio, the Associated Press Columbus Dispatch and the Dayton Daily News, to name a few.

To those Ohio patriots who walked their talk at this event: thank you very much for showing up!

"Everything went off without a hitch," said Valentino. "As has been the case in other Walks, several cars honked and gave us a thumbs up as they drove by."

"The Columbus Police were not only helpful," observed Valentino, "but a 31 year veteran commented we were the best-behaved 'protest' group he's ever seen."

But the REAL story on how law-abiding CCW licenseholders are is being told in Michigan

Two weeks ago, OFCC learned that Gov. Taft had been trying to influence conference committee members to change provisions agreed upon by BOTH House and Senate - specifically the issues regarding protecting the privacy of Ohioans who apply for, and are granted or denied, CCW licenses.

Taft should know better than that.

According the legislative rules, the committee's scope is to focus only on the points of disagreement between the two chambers. 66 House Representatives and 22 Senators voted for the current language regarding protecting the privacy of applicants.

Taft may have realized he hit a dead-end in asking the committee to break the rules, but his willing media accomplices seem more than willing to carry the torch.

On Sunday, November 9, the Columbus Dispatch published a Taft-inspired op-ed entitled "Open Government - Courts get it right, but concealed-carry bill is a step backward ".

Three days later, the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran their editorial - "Proposed law may hide more than just guns" - only they didn't bother to put it on the editorial page.

UPDATE: The Associated Press has picked up the Plain Dealer's story, meaning that it will be copied into local papers across the state in the next day or two.

It is true that the identities of those who apply for and are granted, denied or revoked, concealed-carry licenses would not be public information under HB12. The protection of privacy for persons who wish to exercise their constitutional right to self-defense is important for many reasons,
not the least of which is to prevent the creation of a de facto gun registration database. Further, anti-CCW media organizations like these could print persons' names and private information as a means of persecution, and to attempt to deter future applicants from running the same risks.

But the idea that we will be unable to know about crimes committed by license-holders (click on the "Read More..." link below here to read just how rare these incidents are in Michigan) is ludicrous.

Sec. 109.731. (D) states that "...Not later than the first day of March in each year, the commission shall submit a statistical report to the governor, the president of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives indicating the number of those licenses that were issued, renewed,
suspended, revoked, and denied in the previous calendar year and the number
of applications for those licenses for which processing was suspended...in the previous calendar year. ...The statistics and the statistical report are public records for the purpose of section 149.43 of the Revised Code."

Other states have been providing similar statistics about their concealed carry laws for years. In nearly all states, less than 1% of licenses have to be revolked (and the vast majority of those are for reasons completely unrelated to misuse of a firearm). The overwhelming evidence shows that law-abiding citizens can be trusted with carrying firearms for self-defense.

Click on the "Read More..." link below fo read about how rare incidences of law-breaking are among concealed-carry license-olders are in Michigan.

Reports of extensive media coverage of today's Statehouse 'Defense' Walk are coming in from supporters in the Columbus area. Following is a compilation of those reports, with a link where available:

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