A bill recognizing Ohioans' right to self-defense is on hold (again), due to the actions of Gov. Bob Taft, a few bureaucrats in the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and a few enablers in the Senate.

One of the main issues preventing a compromise is Taft/OSHP-sponsored language that would require people in vehicles with minor occupants to lock up their firearms. This Senate amendment has quickly become known as Taft's "Carjacker Protection" provision.

The most disgraceful part of the "Carjacker Protection" provision is that it is something that no anti-self-defense extremist demanded. Nor was the "Carjacker Protection" provision inserted to win any Senator's crucial vote. Rather, it was inserted only at the insistence of Gov. Taft and the OSHP.

At first they argued that a carry-in-a-car ban was necessary to protect the lives of law enforcement officers. But when we told Senators about a study by University of Georgia professor David Mustard, published in the Journal of Law and Economics, they were forced to change their tune. Mustard's study deals with the issue of risks to police from concealed handgun laws. His research indicated that concealed carry laws are the only gun laws associated with reduced police fatalities.

In order to promote their anti-self-defense agenda and convince Senators to adopt the amended language, Taft/OSHP resorted in an old, familiar trick: they claimed they're trying to save the kids.

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

The Other Paper in Columbus this week ran this rather one-sided article...

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Without warning, begins the radio commercial, I can strike, shattering bone, tearing flesh. Crippling, disfiguring and paralyzing my victims. I don't discriminate. I don't care what color, creed, religion, shape, size, or even age a person is.

I could get your sister when she's sitting on your porch. Think you're safe at home? Think again. I can get your daughter or son walking to school. I can take your mother on her way home from the nail salon. I can drop your wife while she's pumping gas, just like that….

Hey, I'm a bullet, and that's my job.

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

From WBNS in Columbus:

One man is in the hospital, another in jail, and a third on the loose after they tried to rob a Columbus drive-thru carryout.

The three men walked into the Lockbourne Express Drive-Thru wearing masks just after midnight, and attempted to rob the store. But two clerks were prepared for the attempt and pulled a gun out from behind the counter. One of the robbers was shot by a clerk.

He was taken to Grant Medical Center with extensive injuries, but none are life-threatening. A second robber was apprehended near the scene. Police are still searching for a third robber.

Columbus police report several robberies in the area in recent days.

Editor's Note:
Even the United States Congress recognizes the fact that "police cannot protect, and are not legally liable for failing to protect, individual citizens...", and that "citizens frequently must use firearms to defend themselves" - check out H.R. 648, and call your U.S. Representative to ask for their support!