Lawmakers from the Miami Valley could be in the running for the state’s top two legislative posts — House speaker and Senate president — when those jobs open up at the end of next year.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for the entire story, and OFCC PAC commentary.

A well-written letter to the editor has been printed in the Cincinnati Enquirer, taking that paper to task for their characterization of Harold McKinney as "taking the law into his own hands."

Since the Enquirer's editorial, McKinney has been cleared of all charges, after a Hamilton County grand jury failed to return an indictment.

Click on the "Read More..." link below to read the letter.

The woman who organizes Michigan's Amber Alert program had to protect her own family this week. She's a nationally recognized crime fighting mom and proved why when she says she was attacked in her own home.

The Tuesday morning wake-up call for Robin Trumbull was her for sale SUV on fire.

"I heard a sound," says Robin. "I stepped out on the deck, looked over and saw my Tahoe on fire."

Then Robin says a masked man dressed in black hit her in the chest, knocking her back in her house.

"He shut the door, grabbed my husband's ax handle which he uses for a walking stick and (the intruder) hits me again across the arm and he hits me again across the arm and I'm stepping back....I'm thinking all along how can I get out. Where's my hand gun?"

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A Hamilton County grand jury Friday refused to indict a Northside man who last week shot and wounded an armed robber inside a neighborhood bar.

The alleged robbers, however, are facing a total of 19 felony charges stemming from the May 8 incident.

Grand jurors ignored charges of carrying a gun into a liquor establishment and felonious assault that prosecutors had filed against Harold "Hal" McKinney.

McKinney, 54, a member of Cincinnati's Citizens on Patrol program, had stopped briefly at Junker's Tavern on Langland Avenue to talk to customers about joining the organization when two masked men entered the bar with guns drawn shortly after 11 p.m., demanding money. McKinney, who wasn't on patrol duty that night, pulled out a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and shot one of the men, Joseph Person, in the head, according to police.

Person's alleged accomplice, Demeico Hester, was found by police a short time later hiding in a Laundromat adjacent to the tavern.

Since the shooting, friends raised $2,500 to get McKinney released from jail on bond, the incident has been discussed on radio talk shows nationwide and he has become a symbol in efforts to get a concealed-carry gun law passed in Ohio.

"The grand jury reflects the community," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen. "The only thing that I can surmise is that the grand jury felt the elements of the offense were not there."

Grand jurors indicated that McKinney's actions were justified, and Allen said he didn't have a problem with that assessment.

"This community has absolutely had it with violent crimes," Allen said. "They've had it. I hear it every day. Three, four, five, six times a day. You read it in the newspaper, you hear it on the radio. They've had it."

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An excellent letter to the editor by OFCC supporter Brendan Walker has been published in the Canton Repository, responding to claims made by Col. Paul D. McClellan, superintendent of the Ohio Highway Patrol, that law-abiding citizens carrying concealed firearms for self-defense in their personal vehicle present an officer safety issue.

"In an e-mail dated May 5, Col. Paul D. McClellan, superintendent of the Ohio Highway Patrol, 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.”

I have asked for specific sources where this “statistical evidence” is documented. No response so far, not that I expect one because this “statistical evidence” does not exist.

The facts show that the patrol’s fear is unfounded. Forty-three states issue licenses to private citizens to carry concealed firearms, including loaded fire-arms 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 Ohio Highway Patrol must believe we Ohioans are a different, more violent breed of human than residents of the 43 states that have concealed-carry licensing."

Click here to read the entire letter in the Canton Repository.