Sheriff, police chief see little impact from ruling on concealed-carry ban

Local law-enforcement officials say a February ruling in Seneca County Common Pleas Court which found Ohio's law against carrying a concealed weapon to be unconstitutional has had little impact on day-to-day operations.

Judge Michael P. Kelbley threw out a concealed-weapons charge against a Fostoria woman caught with a gun under her seat during a traffic stop, saying Ohio law prevents citizens from protecting themselves.

"It has not made a difference," said Seneca County Sheriff Tom Steyer.

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June 24, 2003

In her Sunday guest column arguing against concealed carry in Ohio ("Permit legislation puts safety at risk") Toby Hoover said "the gun lobby's single-minded campaign to arm every man, woman, and child in the United States." Is this truly the intention of the "gun lobby"? Let's think rationally here. Her statement clearly ruins her credibility and shows that she is thinking in an alarmist, overly emotional manner, rather than rationally making her case.

The purpose of the concealed carry law is to give responsible, law-abiding citizens the ability to arm and defend themselves. Ohio is one of the very few remaining states that does not allow concealed carry. I do not hear of uncontrolled shootouts in Northern Kentucky or Southeast Indiana. Ohio will be no different.

Shawn Rheinhart, Kenwood

Click here to read the letter in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

A Hamilton County judge who has a history of dismissing concealed weapons charges, says he may continue dismissing the cases unless the state legislature comes up with a "reasonable" law allowing people to carry a gun for self-protection.

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The following was submitted as a cover letter to House members of the Conference Committee on Am. Sub. HB12, by request, and details our principle points of opposition to Am. Sub. HB12. Accompanying this letter was a line by line commentary on the Senate's changes. Anyone who is contemplating the merits of "taking what we can get" with Am. Sub. HB12 should read this!

Serious Problems With Substitute House Bill As Passed By The Ohio Senate

In an effort to focus debate on the actual provisions in Am. Sub. HB12, OFCC volunteers reviewed and compared the legislation as it left the House and Senate, as well as the current law.

Ohioans For Concealed Carry opposed HB274 as passed by Ohio Senate in December of 2002, and we conclude that HB12 as passed by the Ohio Senate in June 2003 is even worse than the December 2002 legislation. We oppose House Bill 12 as passed by the Ohio Senate, for many reasons.

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As regular readers know, OFCC PAC's Vice Chairman, Chad Baus, publishes the lion's-share of news articles and opinion pieces on this website. A serious family illness took Baus out of town (and away from the Internet) on what became a definitive weekend for self-defense activists on Ohio.

Special thanks to the volunteers who stepped in to post essential stories and updates on this website, and thanks to those who noticed something (or in this case somebody) was missing, and sent inquiring emails.

As a means of playing "catch-up" for OFCC PAC readers to some of the less "urgent" but still important stories which occurred over the past few days, links are provided by clicking the "Read More..." link below:

This letter to the editor from Governor Bob Taft says it all.

Taft likes to claim in one breath that he has been a "strong supporter of the Second Amendment" and all of the "rights that it grants." Yet he goes on to write an editorial that proves he is more interested in limiting your rights to the best of his ability.

Click "Read More..." for the archived letter, and links to the newspapers which have printed it.