Article Archive

The following letter, addressed to the Cleveland Plain Dealer editor, was CC'd to OFCC. It is written in response to the Plain Dealer's latest abuse of a provision giving the media an exception to the privacy of concealed handgun license records. The Plain Dealer published still more names of Ohio CHL-holders in its October 6, 2004 edition.

October 14, 2004

Dear Editor,

I have probably bought my last copy of the "Plain Dealer."

Your publishing of the names of law-abiding citizens who receive Right-to-carry permits is dirty journalism and out-right life threatening!

Should you not also print the names of felons who have been convicted of illegally carrying firearms or using firearms in the commission of crimes?

Your tactic is full of hypocrisy. You would rather "expose" a law-abiding citizen who receives a right-to-carry permit legally than a convicted criminal who is completely outside the law?

Your tactic defies logic.

I sincerely hope that a small business owner who received a Right-to-carry permit because he or she carries large sums of money to the bank everyday is not gunned down by a thug and then robbed because the thug knew that person was carrying a concealed weapon, because you published their name.

Law-abiding citizens who carry concealed weapons do not want the thugs to know they carry a concealed weapon and you know that. Your tactic is to dissuade people from applying for Right-to-carry permits.

If a death occurs as I described above or a similar situation, you at the Plain Dealer will be partly to blame!

Andrew Blackhurst
Shaker Hts, Ohio.

Bad news, Andrew - it may have already happened: Days after Plain Dealer ''outing''; CHL-holder Bill Singleton is dead

Cleveland Editor Takes Heat for Publishing Gun List

Clifton: Why we printed the list

Strike Two: Another PD editor tries to justify discriminatory actions

Letter to the Editor: Should we publish lists of HIV-infected persons?

Taft supports not ''stigmatizing'' ex-cons; insisted on stigmatizing CHL-holders

Op-Ed: The good guys carry guns, too

Submitted by cbaus on Fri, 10/15/2004 - 15:14.

Guns in the News

October 9, 2004
The Roanoke (VA)Times

by Ed Mitchell

Jake is a good friend, and I'm sure he'll forgive me for not using his real name here. One of the reasons I like Jake so much is that he carries a gun. But you'd never know it.

He's a big, friendly guy with a lot of friends, and he likes to help people. Jake's wife and two kids love him. From our long friendship, I know there's not a mean bone in his body.

Jake isn't my only friend who carries a concealed weapon. You would be surprised at how many of us there are. We've taken the training, passed the exam and had the background check, and we hold permits to carry a concealed weapon.

We also practice regularly at the shooting range. Every five years we're retested, and we have to apply for new permits. We're law-abiding citizens, and we adhere strictly to good firearms safety practices.

Because of our training, we understand that we can use a lethal weapon only as the absolute last resort to prevent a violent felony. If there is any way to avoid pulling a weapon, even if it means running away from an assailant, that is what we must do.

As you might guess, neither Jake nor I have ever used a firearm against another person, except in previous military situations. We have no need to show off or talk about our readiness with firearms. Frankly, we'd just as soon it was never mentioned.

When I go places with Jake or any of my gun-toting friends, especially when our spouses and children are with us, I feel a lot better knowing that the bad guys - no matter what their motives or goals may be - have less of a chance to do their evil. One of the worst scenarios feared by robbers, muggers, kidnappers and killers is running into a citizen who is armed and well-trained.

In America, solid citizens are signing up for concealed carry permits in large numbers, and that is a major benefit and strength of this country. The bad guys have always been carrying weapons, mostly illegally, and they always will. But percentage-wise, they're being steadily outnumbered in most states.

For a long time, evildoers were able to walk into certain places (oh, like banks, for example), pull out their guns and do most anything they wanted - for a short while, at least.

But now, there's an increased possibility that, as soon as they announce "this is a hold-up," they'll hear a chorus of shells being cranked into chambers, safeties clicking off and be looking at the wrong end of several gun barrels.

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

Letter to the Editor: Convoluted logic blames the gun, not the shooter

Submitted by cbaus on Fri, 10/15/2004 - 15:07.

Guns in the News

October 15, 2004
Cleveland Plain Dealer

In response to the Oct. 6 article "Gun used in shooting still exacting toll":

As is typical for The Plain Dealer, a gun is blamed for the tragic shooting of a 10-year-old child. Not the 14-year-old who pointed the gun at the child and pulled the trigger, and not the criminal who dumped the gun behind a grocery store. Instead, the pistol, the manufacturer that made the gun 33 years ago, as well as the long-gone store that originally sold it get the evil eye from reporter Stephen Hudak. Everyone is to blame for this tragic event except the person who actually did the shooting.

Assistant Public Defender Patrick Highland goes along with this thinking, calling guns "horrible things" while describing the 14-year-old shooter as "a good student" who was "at worst, curious and careless."

Using the same logic, if a "curious and careless" 14-year-old takes the family car out for a spin with his 10-year-old brother and smashes the car into a tree, seriously injuring the 10-year-old, might The Plain Dealer run the following headline: "Buick crashed into tree still exacting toll"?

Or perhaps Hudak would look into who had planted that tree 40 years earlier.

Gregory M. Danaher
Willoughby Hills

CRIMINAL CASHES IN: One, possibly two more ''no-guns'' banks robbed

Submitted by cbaus on Fri, 10/15/2004 - 15:00.

Ohio Politics

This week, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that at least one more "gun-free" bank has drawn the attention of an armed robber.

According to the article, "the first robbery occurred at 1:45 p.m. Sept. 23 at a U.S. Bank branch at 5659 Broadview Road."

"At 1:15 p.m. on Sept. 27, the same man held up a FirstMerit Bank branch at 6891 Ridge Road," FBI Special Agent Robert Hawk said.

As OFCC has reported extensively in the past, all Ohio First Merit bank branches are ALL posted with "no-guns" signs, and at least some U.S. Bank branches are as well. We have not yet determined if the 5659 Broadview Road branch boasts one of the discriminatory signs.

View the list other unsafe banks and businesses on OFCC's Do Not Patronize While Armed database.

Kerry's Debate Comments Draw Fire

Submitted by cbaus on Fri, 10/15/2004 - 05:23.

National Politics

NEWS RELEASE
October 14, 2004

NOT TAMPER WITH 2ND AMENDMENT?
'SEN. KERRY ALREADY HAS,' SAYS CCRKBA

When Sen. John Kerry insisted during Wednesday's third and final presidential debate that "I will not tamper with the Second Amendment," he was being disingenuous, because he already has, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said today.

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