Turn on your speakers and listen to how in flight announcements SHOULD be done.

A man with dreadlocks yesterday robbed the National City Bank branch at 3890 Monroe St. of an undisclosed amount of money in Toledo's 20th holdup of a financial institution this year.

The man entered the bank about 10:20 a.m. and handed a teller a note demanding money. The teller gave him the cash, and then fled the branch in an easterly direction. No weapon was seen, and the robber didn't threaten the teller with one, authorities said.

It is the second time the bank has been robbed in just over a month. A man robbed the bank May 9.

Meanwhile, in a nearby state that allows its law-abiding citizens to a carry concealed handgun for self-defense, a similar story had a much different ending for this bank robber:

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

Burger King employees here are taking no chances of being robbed again.

After the manager of a south side restaurant was robbed June 1, employees at that Burger King and two others in the city have been making a habit of calling local police each night before they close.

When Bowling Green police receive the call, an officer heads to the respective Burger King and follows the store manager to a nearby bank, where restaurant money collected that day can be deposited safely.

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

A 17-year-old Over-the-Rhine boy who is being prosecuted as an adult on a charge that he beat and raped his literacy tutor has been found competent to stand trial.

Next week, Wilkins is scheduled for a hearing where a trial date will be set unless he enters a plea. Wilkins is charged with rape and felonious assault in connection with a March 7 attack against a 57-year-old woman in a basement classroom of the Y.W.C.A. of Butler County, in Hamilton. Even veteran police investigators are shocked by the incident in which they described the victim as having been "pummelled" by her assailant.

Police said the teen came behind her, choked then beat her before he sexually assaulted her. The woman suffered a broken nose, broken jaw and scratches in addition to the rape.

Wilkins had 17 juvenile court cases against him, with 12 findings of delinquency including three for assault and three for domestic violence, the report said. In one case, he attempted to have sex with an adult female while she slept, Dunsieth's report said.

Meanwhile, in a state that allows its law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense, a different outcome resulted when this elderly Colorado woman's home was invaded by a suspected rapist:

Click on the Read More..." link below for the full story.

Anthony English, 24, told Columbus police that a pit bull chased him three blocks about 10:40 a.m. before he reached his grandfather’s porch at 682 Stanley Ave.

Buford English, 58, who was washing his car, got a 9 mm handgun, came back and fatally shot the animal, Officer Dennis Byrd said.

"His grandson said the dog jumped a fence and was on its heels trying to bite," Byrd said.

Sonya Garvin said the dog had been running in the neighborhood for three days.

"My 2-year-old was out here at the time," she said angrily.

Byrd decided not to file charges against English, determining that he shot the dog on his own property and in defense of his grandson.

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

The Akron Beacon-Journal has printed it's latest anti-self-defense editorial.

The editors, of course, ignore proponents concerns with making further changes to HB12, while outlining opposing groups' suggested Senate amendments in detail. After reading the closing line, you may not find it necessary to read the entire editorial:

"The Ohio Coalition on Gun Violence has it right -- any law permitting loaded weapons to be carried in public represents unacceptable risks that far outweigh the benefits of a deterrent effect."

We think the folks from the Beacon-Journal editorial board need to get out more. Perhaps they could talk to officials just across the state-line in Pennsylvania, where absolutely NO training is required to obtain a concealed carry license, and where NOTHING bad has happened? Or perhaps talk to the other 43 states with some form of legalized concealed carry law? Just a thought - because consulting Toby Hoover for their fact-finding efforts isn't cutting it.

June 9, 2003

In 1958, a first-grader learned a fact that is beyond the comprehension of Sarah Brady and anti-gun radicals.

"My teacher asked everyone what their father did for a living. When I explained my father owned a gun shop, I immediately saw the negative reaction in my teacher's face.'' That evening, Nancy First asked her father: "Why do you sell guns? They're bad.''

The father's reply: "If one person has a gun, then all people should have a gun. If only one person or small groups of people have guns, they will have total control over those who don't.''

One deranged person recently entered the Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve University, killed one person, shot at and injured others and held some 50 occupants hostage for several hours. This killer had total control over those people.

Had Ohio law permitted it, just one armed occupant in that building might have averted the killing and hours of sheer fright for everyone else.

Ohio law deprives law-abiding citizens the right to carry a weapon for protection, a provision enjoyed by 44 other states and a right provided for by the Second Amendment. It's time the Ohio legislature changed the law.

John J. Myers
Medina

Click here to read the letter in the Akron Beacon-Journal.