A well-written letter to the editor appeared in Sunday's Columbus Dispatch. Because the Dispatch's website is subscription-based, we are archiving the entire letter here:

"Ohio law effectively extinguishes the right to bear arms specifically guaranteed by Ohio's Constitution. In her March 16 Forum column, "Legislators shirk pressing issues to push gun bill", Mary Ann Edwards suggested that the Ohio Supreme Court is likely to uphold the present statutes in an upcoming case.

If the court does so, we can stop wondering whether the Constitution means what it says about the right to bear arms. At that point, we will know that the Constitution really doesn't mean anything at all.

JAMES BASS
Columbus

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

The Cincinnati Enquirer has published a letter to the editor which does an excellent job of outlining some of Gov. Bob Taft's broken campaign promises, including the one promising to support concealed carry reform. He puts it in the context of how Taft's behavior is hurting his party:

"I am a strong Republican, like the majority of voters that live around me. I donate to the national, state and local Republican parties.

I just received a letter from the state Republical Party asking why I haven't donated this year. The answer is because of the man I voted for to run the state. He has turned out to be the typical politician.

In his campaign for governor, he said he would:"

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more of the letter, including an admonition of Taft for preventing Ohioans from protecting their families.

File this story under "truths the Ohio papers refuse to print":

States poised to make it easier to carry guns
BY TIM JONES
Chicago Tribune

Gun rights advocates in several states are gaining in their efforts to liberalize firearm possession laws as public support for stronger gun-control regulation wavers.

Legislatures in Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota and other states are poised to approve bills making it easier for people to carry guns in public.

The reasons behind this move speak to the complex nature of politics and guns in a post-Sept. 11 America. Ferocious debates have divided legislatures, police organizations and the academic community. Members of those groups argue the polar claims that arming citizens will make people safer or that more guns will produce more crime.

In the meantime, dire visions of Dodge City-caliber mayhem that were forecast two years ago by critics of Michigan's new concealed-carry law have not materialized, according to Michigan State Police.

Click the "Read More..." link below for much more of the story!

This week the Cleveland Plain Dealer has printed three letters to the editor, responding to a letter written by MMM's Lori O'Neill, which has been published in multiple newspapers, and which we debunked after it's original printing in the Cincinnati Enquirer. O'Neill has apparently sent basically the same misguided, anti-gun letter to every newspaper she could think of, and it keeps getting printed (go figure, it's anti-gun).

But people are responding. They've debunked this article in other papers. Now, two people have been printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer which accomplish just the same thing.

These people are using common sense to come to very basic conclusions about this latest attempt by the anti-gun lobby. As one writer puts it, " If O'Neill's concerns are so significant, why don't they exist in the other 43 states?" More importantly, another writer pointed out that businesses in other states have realized that it is detrimental to turn away or otherwise deny entry to lawful firearms owners, and asks if "businesses in Ohio want to throw away 4% of their potential business over politics?" Rest assured they will not.

These letters to the Plain Dealer editor may be read here. The Cleveland newspaper publishes their contact information for the submission of letters to the editor.