The Ohio Senate followed up yesterday's surprise committee passage of Sub.
HB12 with a floor vote today.

House Bill 12 passed with a 22-10 Senate vote.

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

When he rose in opposition to Sub. HB12 on the floor of the Senate today, Sen. Eric Fingerhut (D, Cleveland) told Senators that "no one has, in all these debates, shown me a case where the [existing law concerning] affirmative defenses present a problem."

Apparently Fingerhut doesn't read the papers much.

June 18, 2003
Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune

LIMA, Ohio - Seneca County’s prosecutor argued in the 3rd District Court of Appeals yesterday that a county judge failed to follow judicial precedent this year when he declared Ohio’s concealed-weapon law unconstitutional.

In a 10-minute argument before the appellate judges, Prosecutor Ken Egbert, Jr., further said legislators should be the ones to change state laws, not judges.

In February, Mr. Egbert filed an appeal with the court in Lima regarding a ruling that same month in Seneca County Common Pleas Court by Judge Michael Kelbley. In an 18-page decision, Judge Kelbley dismissed felony charges of carrying a concealed weapon against a Fostoria woman who said she hid a gun under a car seat because she feared for her safety after being raped twice.

The judge said the concealed-weapon law infringes on citizens’ rights to defend themselves.

"The statute deprives Ohio citizens of an effective means of self-defense," the judge wrote. "The Ohio Constitution affirms the right to self-defense, even by the use of arms."

Judge Kelbley’s ruling was the second in a little more than a year by a county court against the concealed-weapon law. A judge in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court declared the law unconstitutional in January, 2002.

The Hamilton County ruling later was upheld by the 1st District Court of Appeals. The state has appealed that decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, which has yet to rule in the matter.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for a detailed response to Mr. Egbert's arguments, from an OFCC supporter who was there.

CLEVELAND, June 18, 2003 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohioans For Concealed Carry has informed the Senate of its formal opposition to amended HB12, as passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee for Criminal Justice. In it’s current form, the bill is no longer recognizable as concealed carry reform legislation.

HB12 as passed by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee makes Ohio law worse than it is today, by increasing the penalty for carrying a firearm in a car without a license and by removing existing affirmative defenses for those traveling in a personal vehicle. Furthermore, Senate changes would prevent a license holder from carrying a firearm ready at hand for self-defense in a vehicle that contains one or more occupants who are under the age of 18.

We are extremely disappointed that the Senate Criminal Justice Committee would vote to prevent parents from protecting the lives of their children. We are extremely disappointed that, in spite of newly released FBI data showing Ohio’s violent crime rate has increased while the rest of the nation is decreasing, these senators would choose to bow to political pressure from Governor Taft by adopting language that would result in increased and specifically targeted attacks on Ohio’s most defenseless citizens.

As amended HB12 would create a situation in which vehicles with children would be profiled by criminals for attack, aware that the adult occupants of those vehicles are rendered defenseless by Ohio law. Precedent for this type of profiling exists in Florida, where tourists were singled out by criminals because that state’s concealed carry law excluded them from the right to self-defense that Floridians enjoy.

The language would also create a situation in which license holders will be forced by law to frequently handle their firearm. Gahanna police chief Dennis Murphy (who supports true concealed carry reform) testified to Senators last month that this would create an unsafe situation ripe for the creation of negligent discharges.

Prior to a vote by the full Senate, HB12 should be immediately revised to allow license holders unrestricted access to their firearms while in their personal vehicle, no matter what the age of the occupants. A two-year-old child’s life is no less deserving of the right to be defended from violent attack then that of an eighteen year old.

While there are many egregious changes, the most dangerous include the de facto gun registration database created by LEADS, a system ripe for abuse by bad apples in law enforcement, and the fact that this legislation will prohibit parents from protecting themselves and their children under eighteen.

The changes that have been made to this legislation have created a bill that does more to endanger Ohioans than it does to reform concealed carry in the State of Ohio.

It is time for Governor Taft, his State Highway Patrol, and the State FOP Labor union to stop playing games with the lives of Ohioans and restore their constitutional right to self-defense.

For a list of media stories covering the actions taken by the Senate yesterday, and for a preview of what the next few hours MAY hold, click on the "Read More..." link below.