COLUMBUS - Dec. 11, Ohioans for Concealed Carry (OFCC) is pleased that
House Bill 12 is finally headed to Governor Taft. We support the passage of a concealed carry law as a vital deterrent to violent crime.

With recent news about Ohio's skyrocketing crime rate this legislation is long overdue. Ohio's defenseless citizens deserve a law that will allow them the same right to survive a criminal encounter as citizens in
every bordering state, and 44 across the nation now enjoy.

The rash of carjacking incidents, including the one that took Tony Gordon’s life while his 13 year-old nephew watched in horror, need to stop. Allowing people the choice to defend their life in a car is vital to the success of concealed carry reform.

“How many people have to die before it's clear that Capt. Born and other Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucrats are wrong? People can't 'just drive away' when attacked in their cars,” observed Jim Irvine, OFCC spokesman. “In the wake of Tony Gordon’s murder, we've been collecting money for a two-year old girl who will never know her father. The Holidays have been extremely tough on the family. We need to give Ohioans the choice to defend themselves.”

OFCC remains opposed to many senate amendments to HB12, including the inclusion of license information in the LEADS database, weakening of the affirmative defense system, weakened reciprocity, and the inability of a woman to carry a firearm in her purse in her own car.

11:52 p.m. UPDATE: The HB12 Conference Committee report passed the Ohio Senate 25-8, and passed the Ohio House 69-27. The bill now faces a veto-threat from Governor Bob Taft, who has time and again, proven he would NEVER compromise on making a concealed carry reform bill law. Both Senator Doug White and House Speaker Larry Householder say they have enough votes to override a potential veto.

Due to deadline constraints, this AP story is the one nearly every Ohio newspaper reprinted in today's issue. Thus we will not reprint them all here.

The Associated Press
12/10/2003, 11:36 p.m. ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — As House and Senate lawmakers worked late Wednesday to pass a bill allowing Ohioans to carry concealed weapons, Gov. Bob Taft said he will veto the bill out of concerns over public records.

Ohioans could carry concealed weapons after passing a background check and completing safety training, under the bill approved by the full Senate 25-8 Wednesday night.

The House was also expected to pass the legislation Wednesday.

A joint Senate-House committee working out differences in the bill earlier approved it 5-1 with Rep. Lance Mason, a Shaker Heights Democrat, casting the "no" vote.

Taft said he would veto the bill after pushing unsuccessfully for reporters to have access to the names of all permit holders in a county.

"We got very close to a bill the governor could accept, all the public safety provisions were agreeable to the governor," said spokesman Orest Holubec. "But the public records provision as passed by the conference committee is too limiting."

The bill would give reporters access to limited public records on a name-by-name basis.

House Speaker Larry Householder, a fellow Republican, said he was willing to risk a veto and said he believed he had the votes to override it.

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

UPDATE:
The original AP story announcing Taft's new veto threat came at 9:58 p.m. The below contains updates.

The Associated Press
12/11/2003, 3:27 a.m. ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The latest months-long struggle to allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons has made it Gov. Bob Taft's desk, only to face a veto and an uncertain future.

Ohioans could carry concealed weapons after passing a background check and completing safety training under a bill approved by House and Senate lawmakers late Wednesday.

Taft, a Republican, immediately said he would veto the bill out of concerns over public records.

It was the first time state lawmakers in both chambers have sent a bill to the governor that would allow Ohioans to carry a concealed weapons.

The House approved the bill 69-27 just minutes after the Senate approved it 25-8.

The bill means Ohioans "can have the opportunity to defend themselves against attack" while becoming trained in the proper use of firearms, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Jim Aslanides, a Coshocton Republican.

Sen. Eric Fingerhut, a Cleveland Democrat, said the bill would lead to violent confrontations and the potential of children hurting themselves by finding guns in a permit holder's jacket or purse.

He called people who would walk down the street with a loaded weapon "nuts" and said the bill takes away his right of knowing who to avoid. "I don't want to be anywhere near you," Fingerhut said.

For some Republicans, the bill didn't go far enough. Rep. Ron Young of Painesville opposed the bill because it had too many restrictions.

"This is a gun control bill, not a gun rights bill," Young said.

Taft said he would veto the bill after pushing unsuccessfully for reporters to have access to the names of all permit holders in a county.

Instead, the bill would give reporters access to limited public records on a name-by-name basis.

"We got very close to a bill the governor could accept, all the public safety provisions were agreeable to the governor," said spokesman Orest Holubec. "But the public records provision as passed by the conference committee is too limiting."

House Speaker Larry Householder said he believed he had the votes to override a veto. Senate President Doug White said he did not have enough override votes.

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

The Associated Press
12/10/03 6:40 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — House and Senate lawmakers, while debating public records issues and legal defenses, moved closer Wednesday to passing a bill allowing Ohioans to carry concealed weapons.

"We're working very aggressively right now," he said.

White said an agreement with the governor's office was "pretty close."

The Legislature has been unable to pass a concealed weapons bill for the past eight years.

A committee working out differences between House and Senate versions of the bill was scheduled to meet Wednesday night.

Taft declined to comment. "We're trying to work something out," he said. "There's no point in talking any more about it."

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

House, Senate preparing for vote as early as today

By Jim Provance, Blade Columbus Bureau
December 10, 2003

COLUMBUS - Legislative leaders will try to strike a compromise today with Gov. Bob Taft in a last-ditch effort to pass a highly controversial bill allowing qualifying Ohioans to carry concealed handguns.

A joint House-Senate conference committee, charged with the task of working out differences between differing House and Senate versions of the bill, has scheduled a meeting today for a possible vote.

That could set up a final vote in both chambers before the General Assembly wraps up business for the year as planned by tomorrow.

Mr. Taft has threatened to veto the bill if the list of those receiving permits to carry concealed handguns is not considered public record.

"That defeats the purpose of concealed carry," said House Speaker Larry Householder (R., Glenford). "Concealed carry is about people not knowing who the permit holders are."

Mr. Householder said a counteroffer calls for the list as a whole to remain private, but would allow reporters, using specific names of individuals, to receive information piecemeal.

The governor had yet to commit to anything last night.

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