In addition to having been the only Ohio "blue" county from 2000 to have gone Bush Red in 2004 (a British newspaper's letter-writing campaign asking independent voters to choose Kerry couldn't have hurt), Clark County now has another interesting claim to fame:

There are nearly 800 people who have made the choice to bear arms for self-defense in the county, and the average age of CHL-holders in the county is 64 (the youngest is 23, the oldest 87).

In a November 14, 2004 feature article by Michelle Everhart, the Springfield News Sun made some VERY important observations about the early days with Ohio's concealed carry law.

The article mentions two recent CHL-trainees, Rebecca Webster and her daughter Tammy LeMaster, who completed their training this week, rounding it off with a session in the Clark County sheriff’s firing range.

It was Webster’s first time shooting a gun, the article says. She wanted training because of an incident that happened to a family member, something she did not want to happen to her.

“This has been very eye-opening for me,” Webster, 65, told the News-Sun. “You find how much respect you have for a firearm.”

The News-Sun is to be applauded. Not enough attention is paid by the media to how this law benefits our most vulnerable citizens, namely women and the elderly. And it gets better as Everhart continues:

“Ninety-nine percent of the people are just great, everyday, honest people who want to have the right to have some sort of protection,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Chadeayne told the newspaper.

Clark Co. Sheriff Gene Kelly noted that gun battles forecast by opponents have not materialized. And local police agencies told Everhart that officers on the street rarely run into license-holders actually carrying guns, and that when they do, there are no problems.

“The bad guy has always had the advantage because they had the gun or the knife,” Chadeayne was quoted as saying. “The average law abiding citizen had a handicap to the people who wanted to prey upon them.”

The article notes that many people, especially the older license-holders, did not want to go on record about why they want to carry a concealed weapon. But Everhart notes their reasons for carrying echoed each other: "Some fought for years to have the right to have a concealed weapon... Others just want to even the playing field with the 'bad guys.'"

“Most (licensees) are homeowners, responsible and retired,” Kelly said in his News-Sun interview. “They want a feeling of personal protection. There is still a lot of crime and people are in fear.”

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