BELLEVUE, Wash., Sept. 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- State lawmakers in Ohio should take a signal from their counterparts in Missouri, who just voted to override a veto by Gov. Bob Holden, making it possible for residents of the Show Me State to begin legally carrying concealed firearms for their personal protection, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said today.

Both the Missouri House and Senate this week voted to override Holden's veto of that state's long-debated concealed carry law. Missouri now becomes the 45th state in the nation with a license-to-carry statute.

"Ohio legislators have been debating concealed carry for as long, or longer, than Missouri," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, "and they still don't have a law on the books. Making Ohio's case more urgent is the fact that a lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation and several Ohio residents has resulted in Ohio's ban on concealed carry being declared unconstitutional by a state appeals court. It is time for Ohio's Legislature to act."

CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron drew a closer parallel between the situations in Missouri and Ohio. He said the opposition to concealed carry effectively treats residents in both states as second-class citizens.

"Ohio Gov. Bob Taft has been opposed to concealed carry, the same as Gov. Holden in Missouri," Waldron observed. "The Missouri override proves that lawmakers can do what's right for their constituents, even when a governor tries to prevent it. Ohio residents have just as much right to defend themselves against criminal attack as do the citizens in Missouri, or any of the other 44 states that have license-to-carry laws. Ohio residents are no less trustworthy with their firearms, but that's not stopping Bob Taft and anti-gun-rights lawmakers from treating them as though they were."

"After this week's vote in Missouri," Gottlieb stated, "Ohio lawmakers have no more excuses for not adopting a sensible, comprehensive bill that will guarantee Buckeye State citizens the same self-defense rights that are enjoyed by millions of other Americans. What happened in Missouri is proof positive that a governor can no longer stand in the way of common sense concealed carry legislation."

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Click here to read the CCKRB press release on US Newswire.

Click here to read the story from Reuters.

Related Stories:
Missouri legislators gear up for veto session

How a Republican (who won't act like one) governor is stalling HB12

Saturday, September 06, 2003

Police investigating savage thrashing of 36-year-old man in Northland area

As her only son lay in a hospital bed, Pamela A. Smith shuddered as she thought of the brutality he had faced.

"The blows to the head. The irreversible brain damage. It’s beyond me how they could do that.

"Someone, somewhere saw something," she said. "They had to. I just pray that God touches their heart."

Derrick Floyd, 36, died late Thursday night at Riverside Methodist Hospital after being beaten a week ago.

Floyd was discovered about 11:30 p.m. Aug. 29, when someone called police to say there was a body lying outside an apartment complex at 1980 Belcher Dr., near the former Northland Mall.

He was bleeding from the head and not breathing. Medics revived him.

The blows to his head were so severe that Smith said she thinks the attack had to be the work of more than one person.

But why someone would want to kill him has been a question the family has been unable to answer.

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Floyd wasn’t a fighter — if his attackers were looking for a fight. And at 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 150 pounds, Floyd wasn’t threatening.

Moreover, he still had problems with his legs because they had been broken two years ago in an auto accident.

He was "defenseless before the first blow," his mother said.

Floyd also is survived by a 14-year-old son, Marquise Deal-Floyd, and four sisters.

The funeral services were held at the J. Martin Smith Mortuary, 1173 E. Hudson St.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 614-645-4730 or Crime Stoppers at 614-645-TIPS.

Click here to read the entire story in the Columbus Dispatch.

September 08, 2003

Police seeking explanations for violent year

With nearly four months of 2003 remaining, Columbus has already surpassed the number of homicides it recorded in 2002

Columbus police say they have no explanation for the increase in homicides this year. It’s not the worst year: The city had 139 in 1991, many of which police connected to drug gangs. But the last time Columbus hit 100, which it likely will do this year if the pace continues, was in 1994.

"Just looking at what I have here, there is no particular pattern," said Lt. Mary Kerins, who is in charge of homicide detectives.

Kerins said she recently asked them to fill out a questionnaire on every homicide this year. The detectives already keep a computerized list of each homicide with the name of the victim; the assailant, if known; the address of the crime; and weapon used, if any.

But Kerins wants more information, anything that might shed light on the increased homicide rate. The information will be analyzed and put into a report, she said. "We are going to work on it to see if there is something that we can’t see."

Police are hoping to determine whether there are some common threads, some similar motives, in the deaths, detective Pat Dorn said. "You’re looking for that almighty answer."

Kerins said there always are unusual cases but "this seems to be an unusual year with many unusual cases."

Police records show that about 53 percent of the homicides through the end of last month have been solved. A total of 64 percent of all the homicides last year were resolved.

One professor says this year’s increase in homicides could be an aberration.

"Short-term fluctuations don’t signal much of anything," said Richard Lundman, a sociology professor at Ohio State University who focuses on crime.

It’s likely that homicide rates simply go through cycles, he said, "just like batting averages and golf scores and almost anything else."

Commentary:
OFCC prefers to see the "cycle" of homicide rates spiraling downward - a site not too common in Ohio cities these days, but one much more common occurrence in states in which citizens are legally allowed to choose to bear arms for self-defense.

Click here to read the entire story in the Columbus Dispatch.

Related Stories:
Ohio cities experience violent crime increase

State's largest municipalities losing residents to suburbs

Cincy Post: Violent crime up 37.1% in Cincinnati

The grass really IS greener: Cincinnatians moving across river

September 10, 2003
Cincinnati Enquirer

Police concerned over civilian pepper guns

SYCAMORE TWP. - Outside Kenwood Towne Centre on Saturday, shoppers will find
a pepperball gun company pitching its weapons as the latest thing in home
protection.

They look enough like real handguns to have police officers concerned. But
PepperBall Technologies Inc. (San Diego) says citizens are clamoring for ways to feel
safer, and that these weapons are the newest wave in self-protection without
killing anyone.

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The pepperball gun - called "The Neutralizer" - fires hard plastic
projectiles that burst on impact. The balls are filled with powder that
irritates the victim's eyes, nose and throat.

The company chose Cincinnati to launch its marketing campaign after extensive demographic research - including percentage of gun owners and non-gun owners, Villines said. Another crucial factor: A lawsuit challenging Ohio's ban on concealed weapons is pending before the Ohio Supreme Court.

PepperBall Technologies, he said, described its gun as "kind of like a paintball gun," Casper said, except that on Saturday it will shoot pellets of baby powder at a target.

Cincinnati police officers - who described The Neutralizer as looking similar to a 9mm
semiautomatic pistol with a scope on top - said arming the public with anything that looks like a real gun can be dangerous. Pointing a pepperball gun at a burglar, for example, could prompt the burglar to respond with a weapon that fires real bullets.

Company officials insist there are differences between their weapon and a
real gun, including that the person shooting it doesn't feel it recoil, said Monte Scott, client relations manager.

"Our primary focus here is home protection," he said. "It's not for taking
outside or in your car."

Cincinnati police have had pepperball guns for about 18 months, but they're
not in every cruiser yet. Officers have fired them three times in just over a week, each time at mentally ill people who were then taken for psychiatric evaluation.

Click here to read the entire story in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

September 8, 2003
Cincinnati Post

A routine household chore turned into a horrible experience for a 78-year-old Mount Healthy woman -- and resulted in a rape indictment today for her accused attacker.
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted Jason Turner, 19, of Mount Healthy, for rape, attempted rape, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and aggravated burglary, charges carrying a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.

The woman had just returned Aug. 14 to her home from the grocery store. She parked in her detached garage and was carrying the groceries inside when, police said, Turner sneaked into her house, which she had unlocked after arriving.

After she finished bringing the groceries inside, Turner allegedly attacked her, dragging her upstairs and raping her.

"The defenseless victim was utterly taken by surprise and could only submit," prosecutor Mike Allen said today. "One shudders to imagine the horror of being brutally dragged through your own home and raped."

Meanwhile, in a state that allows its law-abiding citizens to carry a
concealed handgun for self-defense, a different outcome resulted when this woman was attacked in her home: (click on the "Read More..." link below)