During an interview with Columbus ThisWeek to promote an upcoming Columbus concert with ZZTOP, rocker and Second Amendment-rights activist Ted Nugent had this to say about Ohio's ban on carrying a firearm for self-defense:

"Any obstacles for individuals of proper reputation -- in other words, non-felons -- to ever need any kind of permit for the right to keep and bear arms is an indication of a cultural deprivation at the hands of an apathetic, sheep-like society that embarrasses me, angers me," he said.

"To think that some man can tell this man if, where or when I may be able to defend myself is absolutely repugnant to me. ... I find that spiritually, intellectually and constitutionally offensive. And I'm fighting with all my might to rectify that."

One wonders what ThisWeek's Vince Dunbar thinks of ol' Ted.

Click here to read the entire story in Columbus ThisWeek.

Click here to learn more about Ted Nugent on his official website.

House Bill 12 has been added to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice's agenda for "invited witness" testimony only on May 14 at 9:00 a.m. in the North Hearing Room, Second Floor, Senate Building.

The purpose for Wednesday's "invited witnesses" hearing for HB12 is, essentially, to hear testimony from The Buckeye State Sheriff's Association (which supports the bill), as well as the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Fraternal Order of Police (groups who oppose some, but not all, of the language in House Bill 12), and from the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, a group of anti-self-defense extremists who oppose the bill in any form.

UPDATE! In a message to their their anti-self-defense extremists, the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence states that "this male group of gun proponents (OFCC & NRA) [is] pretend[ing] they want concealed carry in order to protect women." They noted that OFCC repreatedly testified "that women will benefit the most by passing this bill. (Funny we haven't seen the women, the elderly and minorities down there supporting carrying hidden guns."

Ohioans For Concealed Carry often hears from women who are anxious to be able to protect themselves from violent attack, and wondering what they can do to help.

NOW IS YOUR TIME, LADIES! Individuals wishing to offer testimony on their own behalf will be encouraged to testify in a week or two. OFCC PAC will, of course, notify you when that hearing occurs.

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A Senate committee moved closer yesterday to approving a controversial bill allowing Ohioans to carry hidden handguns.

The bill is on the fast track in the Senate, but it remains to be seen how the House might react to some of the changes pondered in the Senate.

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A recent shooting on Fountain Square - the heart of Cincinnati's downtown - has a business concerned that this latest crime will be its demise.

A stray bullet from the gunplay that left one man injured and more than 40 people scrambling for cover shortly after 11 p.m. struck the glass facade of Rock Bottom Brewery, a restaurant on the square.

"My concern is that it's going to kill my business," said Eric Yax, Rock Bottom's manager. But, "I don't know what (police) can do" beyond around-the-clock patrols.

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Anti-self-defense extremists are an interesting bunch. Much of their objection to the private use of handguns stems from the phobic belief that guns in the hands of the "untrained" are unavoidable tragedies simply waiting to occur. This opinion has been taken by a minority of Ohio's law enforcement bureaucrats.

Despite all the proof that rank-and-file cops support CCW, and despite all the repentant testimony from law enforcement bureaucrats who were former opponents in other states, a minority of bureaucrats and union officials still oppose HB12, saying it poses a safety concern.

But author Don B. Kates reveals quite a different viewpoint is held privately among law enforcement:

In a deposition taken in a failed New York lawsuit against local firearms dealers there, Kates writes, a high-ranking New York state officer testified of the following:

"I am...convinced that handguns are far and away the most safe and effective means of self-defense because that is what law enforcement officers overwhelmingly assert in various...polls sampling opinions. I cannot count up all such polls I have seen, but I have seen plenty.

Gov. Bob Taft isn't getting a lot of love right now from Ohioans.

The number of voters who disapprove of the job Taft is doing reached 50 percent, a new high, according to a new Ohio Poll, sponsored by the University of Cincinnati. Negativity toward an Ohio governor hasn't been that high in almost 20 years.

"I don't like what he's doing," Scott England, owner of Fort Ball Pizza Palace in Fremont, said of Taft.

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The Columbus Business Journal has printed a revealing editorial on the strangeness of anti-self-defense forces dragging business into the concealed carry reform debate.

"In the argument against a concealed-carry law, some opponents have warned that business has yet to weigh in heavily on the proposal. That's true – but don't expect a groundswell of opinion from the business side.

This proposal simply doesn't resonate with the corporate sector other than how it might influence businesses' ability to manage and control their workplaces and whether it raises an undue threat of liability.

Those concerns were answered to businesses' satisfaction last year before a similar measure died, and the issues appear adequately addressed this time around. As a result, expect that business in Ohio will largely sit out this debate over concealed carry."

Given this reasoned analysis, it becomes all the more difficult to understand why the Ohio Chamber of Commerce has joined the Million Mom March in the fight to weaken this bill.

After successfully lobbying to give businesses immunity from legal consequence if they ban firearms, and a defenseless person gets hurt,

"Women need to defend themselves, especially single women or those with husbands overseas. And the media has a responsibility to discuss honestly the issue of gun ownership. The John Walsh Show (search) on NBC may have dealt a blow (4/29) to both goals by "ambushing" three women who agreed to discuss their gun ownership and advocacy on air."

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The U.S. Senate confirmed Ohio Supreme Court Justice Deborah Cook Monday for the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The U.S. Appeals Court is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court and decides much of the nation's law.

President Bush nominated her for the federal bench nearly two years ago but her vote has been held up by partisan battles.

Cook was confirmed quickly by the Senate on a 66-to-25 vote for the Sixth Circuit, the Cincinnati-based court that handles appeals from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan.

Cook's appointment creates an opening on the seven-member Ohio Supreme Court that Governor Taft must fill. The 51-year-old Cook, of Akron, was two years into her second six-year term.

Taft actively pushed for Cook's nomination to the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. In November, he said he would replace her with someone sharing her judicial approach.

"I would want to appoint to the court someone like Justice Cook who believes in interpreting the law, who believes in judicial restraint," Taft said Thursday, Nov. 7.

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