House Bill 12 has been added to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice's agenda for invited testimony, possible amendments, and a possible vote out of committee on Tuesday, June 17 at 11:00 a.m. in Room 110, Second Floor, Senate Building. If necessary, the hearing may continue after session in the Senate Finance Hearing Room.

The purpose for Tuesday's hearing for HB12 is, essentially, to publicly consider and vote on potential amendments to the bill as passed by the House, and to vote to pass the amended bill to the Senate floor.

Citizens are more than welcome to attend. But remember, THIS IS INVITED TESTIMONY ONLY.

Please consider wearing your OFCC shirt to show support for the organization.

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

The Cleveland Free Times recently printed an anti-self-defense op-ed from Lori O'Neill, president of the "Million" Mom March's Cleveland chapter.

Unfortunately, the op-ed is not available on the Free Times' website (though we've probably heard it all before).

Click on the "Read More..." link below to view a response, written by pro-CCW supporter Chris Morton. We hope the Free Times has the courage to print it.

Consider the first two paragraphs of this Columbus Dispatch article, and ask yourself why this newspaper's editorial board continues to advocate a ban on a practical self-defense law for Ohioans.

Thursday, June 12, 2003

"If there’s big trouble during the wee hours of the night, Meigs County Sheriff Ralph Trussell warns it may require a few rings to rouse him from bed and a minute or so for him to pull on his pants and grab his gun.

With no dispatchers to answer calls and no deputies on duty beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Trussell will be the lone county lawman — a status he could retain for the remainder of the year."

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

June 13, 2003

To the editor of the Mansfield News Journal:

Regarding the May 26 article, "Bill limits backyard guns," which refers to House Bill 180.

If you are a law-abiding gun owner, you need to call your state representatives and tell them to vote this bill down. This bill would do more damage to your gun rights than the Clinton Gun Ban and the Brady Bill.

House Bill 180 would allow township trustees in Ohio the power to pass "gun-free" zones in unincorporated areas of townships, making it illegal for gun owners to fire a gun for lawful purposes, (i.e., shooting a coon or groundhog that is demolishing one's vegetable garden) -- even on their own property if less than one acre.

Madison Township Trustee Homer Hutcheson supports the bill, stating there are few places to hunt in Madison Township anyway. Again, Mr. Hutcheson, the Second Amendment has never been about hunting, it is about the unalienable right to self-defense; just read it.

Mr. Hutcheson also seems ignorant to the fact he has residents in Madison Township who not only raise gardens but crops like soybeans on less than an acre. This type of gun banning would eliminate those gardens and crops because as anyone who recently has tried to raise a garden in the town or country knows, your months of effort and produce can be 100-percent destroyed in one night unless you consistently trap and, yes, kill chipmunks, groundhogs, and coons among other varmints.

While the article claims exceptions would be made for residents acting in self-defense, you tell me how short of a pen stroke it will take to alter that exception a month or year down the road. The end objective of every solitary gun-control law, whether federal, state or local, is the elimination of the common man and woman's right to self-defense, reserving it only for the elite class of citizen.

Annette Speakman
Mansfield

Click here to read the letter in the Mansfield News Journal.

Note: While we remain focused on passage of a concealed carry reform bill into law, OFCC representatives did make concerns with HB180 known to legislators. As this letter points out, 'the Second Amendment has never been about hunting, it is about the unalienable right to self-defense.' We have been told that HB180 has been "put on ice." and will not move before summer recess.

Wednesday's public hearing in city council chambers on a proposed ban on possession or sale of assault firearms brought out raw emotion on both sides.

More than four dozen people attended the unusual pair of hearings, arranged by Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st, council's safety committee chairman. Massive feedback on the proposed law led him to set aside two hours in the afternoon and two hours in the evening for public input.

Gillam expects council to act on the issue in July. The decision will be based on what is right, not what's popular, he said.

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