Gongwer News Service
September 22, 2003

Hundreds of Ohioans who have been victims of violent criminal actions would not have suffered those attacks had the General Assembly enacted a law allowing people to carry concealed weapons, according to a report released Monday by backers of House-passed legislation that calls for an Ohio concealed-carry law.

The report, written for Ohioans For Concealed Carry (OFCC) by a University of Georgia professor, indicates that 400 such attacks since June would have been prevented if the law was in place.

Separately Monday, another organization presented experts who refuted the data used to reach the conclusions in the report. Those researchers, speaking on behalf of the Ohio State Chapter of the American Constitution Society, said information used in the report is misleading and unreliable.

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

This Thursday, Ohio's two major law enforcement groups, the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association and the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, will try to convince the Ohio State Highway Patrol that the language they encouraged the Senate to adopt in Am. Sub. HB12 is regarding carrying firearms in vehicles is UNSAFE. This story from Missouri highlights just how ridiculous are the concerns of the OSHP.

In Missouri, as with 20 other states in the nation*, NO special license is required for citizens to bear arms for self-defense in their cars. And NONE of the OSHP's fears are being realized.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
09/19/2003

JEFFERSON CITY - The people who are peppering sheriffs' offices with questions about how to get a concealed weapon permit may not understand one part of the law, officials said Friday. The law does not require Missouri residents to get a permit to conceal a weapon in a car, said James L. Vermeersch, executive director of the Missouri Sheriffs' Association.

Under the legislation, people 21 or older may carry a handgun anywhere in a motor vehicle, with or without a permit. Prior state law made it illegal to hide a gun in an accessible place in a vehicle.

Law enforcement officers met with state officials for the second time Friday to work out implementation of the law, which officially takes effect Oct. 11. Most sheriffs won't begin to process permits until Oct. 14, Vermeersch said. Oct. 11 is a Saturday, and the following Monday is Columbus Day, when many public offices are closed.

Under the new law, the Missouri Highway Patrol will process applicants' fingerprints and send them to the FBI for a background check. Capt. Tim McGrail, director of the patrol's Criminal Records and Identification Division, said the department currently handles between 26,000 and 40,000 fingerprints from nurses, teachers and other applicants. Some estimate that Missouri will have 60,000 concealed-carry applicants in the first year the law is in effect.

Starting in July, people with a concealed-carry endorsement will have a special code on their drivers licenses. The permits are good for three years, but some drivers licenses are good for six years. That presents some issues for the state Department of Revenue.

The department wants to send notices to permit holders who allow their endorsement to lapse, saying they will need to get a new license without the special code, said Rich Lamb, deputy director of the Division of Motor Vehicle and Drivers Licensing.

Related Story:
*ATTN: What Senate leaders, Bob Taft and OSHP bureaucrats don't want you to know

Safety, studies spur move back to campus

September 22, 2003

Demand for university housing at Ohio State — on the rise for years — has hit a new high.

Yesterday, 9,258 students moved into dormitories, a 31 percent increase from 1995. New dorms with 500 new beds — the first student housing built in 34 years — are filling up with their first residents.

Safety concerns, a big freshman class, selective admissions and campus programs are reasons why, officials say.

"In talking with some students, they did say ‘My mom wants me to live on campus because she doesn’t want me east of High Street,’ " said Toni Greenslade-Smith, director of housing assignments.

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

44-year-old in hospital after assault

OAKWOOD | Police want to talk to a man who may have been at the scene Thursday when a Dayton man was severely beaten with a baseball bat.

Matthew Crawford, 44, collapsed in the driveway of 219 Shafor Blvd., a house owned by the Zax family, after exiting the house. Police would like to talk to Steve Zax Jr., who they say may have been present during the attack.

Officers were dispatched to the residence about 4:40 p.m. on a medic run after someone playing tennis next door heard a commotion and saw the injured man. That person called 911.

Capt. Walt Conroy said Crawford’s head injuries could be life-threatening. Police said he has not been able to tell them who’s responsible. In the ambulance, Crawford told medics that he’d been beaten, but the information was sketchy.

Conroy said Zax may split his time between the Shafor Road home and his mother’s farm in Spring Valley. Detectives have not learned where he works, or if he does. His father once owned a chain of health clubs, which he sold in the early ’90s. The younger Zax used to work in the family business.

Aggravated assaults are rare in Oakwood. Conroy said the last one was in 1998, and was part of a robbery.

Oakwood police ask anyone with information to call 298-2122.

Zax was last seen driving a 1994 gray Lincoln, license plate CA75EL.

Commentary:
Criminals do not need firearms to victimize and kill.

Was this one of the 96 assaults that could have been prevented this month by HB12?

Click here to read the story in the Dayton Daily News.

Related Story:
New Report Shows Ohio Violent Crimes Could Have Been Prevented

Northside man suing for the right to carry concealed weapons will strap his handgun on his hip Sept. 28 and lead a group of like-minded gun owners up and down his neighborhood streets.

Vernon Ferrier is hoping his "Gun Walk'' might light a fire under the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus, where justices have been considering the concealed-carry issue for five months.

"I'd like to kick them off the fence,'' he said. "We haven't heard anything since April.''

He's also trying to make the point, he said, that carrying openly is ridiculous and defeats the goal of being able to surprise a would-be criminal. And while he says he's not trying to taunt the police, he also wants to prove it is legal to carry a weapon openly. Officers, he said, initially told him he couldn't.

"I'd like for that 80-year-old woman walking down the street to be able to have a gun in her purse,'' Ferrier said. "It doesn't work the same if she's got it out where someone can see it.''

Ferrier is part of a group of Cincinnatians that sued every municipality in Hamilton County, the city of Cincinnati, the county and the state in July 2000, charging that the ban on concealed weapons violates their constitutional rights.

Northside is a neighborhood keenly aware of the concealed-carry debate.

In May, resident and citizens-on-patrol member Hal McKinney, shot a man in Junker's Tavern during a robbery. The shooting - and the grand jury's decision not to indict McKinney - drew national attention.

Ferrier, a 62-year-old hairdresser in Hyde Park, notified Cincinnati police of his plan.