The Toledo Blade has printed an excellent letter to the editor addressing the exploitation of the CWRU shooting by anti-self-defense extremists.

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

An Ohio police officer and former Marine has copied us on a letter he submitted to the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.

In the letter, Officer Douglas debunks any notion that Ohioans may exercise their constitutional right to self-defense by carrying a firearm "openly", by informing Senators that he was trained in police academy to charge persons doing so with disorderly conduct or inciting panic.

Mr Douglas also concurred with Gahanna Police Chief Murphy and Deputy Chief Rinehart, who testified that loading and unloading a firearm to comply with "victim zone" or parking lot bans is unsafe.

Senator Austria,

My name is Matt Douglas. I work as a Police Officer for [two city police departments] and also do off-duty security in the greater Cleveland area. I am also a former Marine Infantryman.

I am writing this email to tell you that I support concealed carry in Ohio as HB12 is worded, as no citizen can open carry without fear of arrest for inciting panic or disorderly conduct in most areas of the state. Also, I feel that the fears expressed by OHP and the FOP are groundless and have told them my opinion.

Ken Samblanet took his son, Dustin, to see a movie in an attempt to cheer him up.

But when “Matrix Reloaded” ended, the father and son stepped out into Tinseltown Theatre’s parking lot only to notice something was missing.

Dustin’s truck.

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

Although touting progress in certain police districts, Cincinnati city council admits that Cincinnati's violent crime rate so far this year is up 37.1 percent compared to the same period in 2000.

In the first 5 months of this year, the violent crime rate has increased by about 12 percent in two of Cincinnati's five police districts: District 2, which includes Evanston, Walnut Hills and Madisonville; and District 5, which includes Clifton, Mount Airy and Northside, while declining slightly in the remaining districts.

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

As the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice enters the final stretch of discussions on potential changes to HB12, we think it is important to keep the following in mind:

Tennesseans made a lot of compromises to appease anti-gun pressures when creating their law in 1994. Only now, eight years later, are many of the major problems with Tennessee's CCW law being dealt with, and anti-self-defense extremists in that state are still spouting the same false rhetoric they did in 1994.

Let this be a lesson to us in Ohio. This example from Tennessee presents all the more reason to tell our Ohio legislators NOT to weaken HB12 with compromises to appease the FOP police labor union, Ohio Chamber of Commerce/ Ohio Manufacturers Association, Million Mom March/ Brady Campaign, the Ohio Highway Patrol, or Bob Taft.

Click here to read the entire story about the fight in Tennessee to fix original problems.

Click here NOW to access the updated Grassroots Action Guide, which details your call-to-action for the next two weeks.

This column doesn't address concealed carry reform, but should serve as a reminder that we all would do well to offer non-shooters the opportunity to try it out. All too often, it's a much better "converter" than facts, figures, and anecdotal stories about crime and defenselessness.

By Andrea Might
OXFORD PRESS

I never realized how much I have in common with Annie Oakley.

A resident of nearby Darke County, Phoebe Moses, better known as Annie Oakley, was best known for her expertise with guns and rifles when she was alive in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

However, I never knew Oakley was also a writer, according to a story about her that ran in the Greenville Daily Advocate on Nov. 4, 1926, shortly after she died.

[And] although I am not a hunter or an expert with a rifle, as Oakley was, I had the chance to hold and shoot a gun for the first time on Easter Sunday while visiting with my future in-laws in New Paris.

Click here to read the entire column in the Oxford Press.

May 29, 2003
Dayton Daily News

The Ohio State Highway Patrol has opposed numerous bills introduced in the General Assembly that would allow private citizens to carry concealed firearms, including firearms in motor vehicles.

The OSHP's stated reason is the fear that concealed-carry licensees will shoot officers during traffic stops. In an e-mail dated May 5, 2003, the OSHP stated: "... There is significant statistical evidence that carrying loaded firearms in motor vehicles is a catalyst for the loss of life; for both law enforcement and civilians."

The OSHP's fear is unfounded. Forty-three states issue licenses to private citizens to carry concealed firearms, including loaded firearms in motor vehicles.

Some 3.5 million such licenses are in force. To date, no peace officer in any state has ever been assaulted during a traffic stop by any licensee using a legally carried concealed firearm.

The OSHP must believe we Ohioans are a different and more violent breed of human than residents of the 43 states that have concealed-carry licensing.

Richard W. Martin
Fairborn

Click here to read the letter in the Dayton Daily News.

UPDATE! Click here to read the letter in the Columbus Dispatch.

Tiffin Advertiser Tribune - A hearing date has been set for the appeal of a local decision that declared unconstitutional Ohio's law against carrying a concealed weapon.

The hearing is set for 9 a.m. June 17 in the Third District Court of Appeals in Lima before Judges Sumner E. Walters, Stephen R. Shaw and Robert R. Cupp, according to the court's schedule.

A Fostoria woman, riding as a passenger, was arrested after a June 2002 traffic stop in Fostoria. A Highway Patrol trooper found a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol under her seat with a round in the chamber and three more in the magazine, court papers show.

The woman, who said she needed the gun for protection, was subsequently charged with one count of carrying a concealed weapon.

Last November, the woman asked Seneca County Common Pleas Judge Michael P. Kelbley to throw out the case because the law was unconstitutional.

In February, Kelbley issued an 18-page ruling, doing just that. County Prosecutor Ken Egbert Jr. appealed the decision.

Click here for our original coverage of this, the third court and fifth judge, to rule Ohio's ban on self-defense with a concealed firearm unconstitutional.

Click here to read the story in the Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune.

Gongwer News Service - Last week, Governor Bob Taft announced that he has appointed Union County Sheriff John Overly to head up the state's homeland security efforts in the Department of Public Safety.

The sheriff, who is expected to join the department in June, will direct operational activities for the State of Ohio Security Task Force and the State Building Security Review Committee. He will also advise DPS Director
Kenneth Morckel on program development, analysis and policies and procedures
related to homeland security.

"Sheriff Overly brings a wealth of experience in law enforcement and
community relations to help Ohio strengthen our defenses and preparedness," Mr. Taft said in a statement announcing the appointment. "He will be a great addition to the Department of Public Safety as we continue our work in
ensuring the citizens of Ohio are safe."

Director Morckel (former head of the Ohio Highway Patrol) said the sheriff has vast experience in working with first responders and also led the implementation of Union County's MARCS project.

OFCC PAC Commentary:
Since the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association represents a large group of law enforcement officials who support concealed carry reform, perhaps Sheriff Overly will be able to enlighten his new anti-self-defense bosses on the merits of this legislation, and the benefits it will provide to Homeland Security efforts.

I recently got the Ohio FOP's annual request for money. Here is my reply: