When a CHL-holder needs to enter a "no-guns" victim zone, Ohio law currently requires to leave their firearm in a locked case in "plain sight" in their motor vehicle, or in a locked glove box.

In testimony supporting House Bill 12, which was under consideration by the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice in May 2003, Gahanna Police Chief Dennis Murphy voiced opposition to the creation of "victim" zones, where people would be required to leave their firearm in their car. He explained that thieves watch people in parking lots, and would quickly notice persons who were removing firearms for storage in their car. Murphy testified that such a law would lead to more gun thefts.

From the stories you are about to read, it is obvious that Chief Murphy was right when he testified before Senators that the safest place for a CHL-holder's firearm is on the hip of it's owner.

Cincinnati: Liberty Township Teen With Loaded Handgun Arrested
November 4, 2004, WCPO.com

Police have arrested a 17-year-old teenager after they responded to report of a car break-in in 5800 block of Princeton-Glendale Road in Liberty Township in Butler County.

Police caught up with the teenage thief just before noon on Wednesday.

Several items were taken from the car including a 9mm handgun.

When police saw the gun in the teen's hand they ordered him to drop it.

The teen refused and as police were ready to shoot at him, he dropped the gun.

Sean Sanders, of Liberty Township, has been charged with theft, breaking and entering, carrying a concealed weapon -- all felonies. Sanders has also been charged with two counts of possession of drugs.

Dayton: S.W.A.T. Weapons Stolen
November 4, 2004, WDTN.com

S.W.A.T. Team guns are in the hands of a criminal. 2News has learned that weapons were stolen from a Dayton S.W.A.T Team member's truck on Wednesday night.

Two swat members went to the Huber Heights Fricker's Restaurant to eat after a training session.

They left the restaurant at 12:30 Thursday morning.

When one of the men got to his truck, he found that a window was broken and his gear was gone.

Four guns were in cases in the back of the truck, and other equipment like safety glasses and gloves were in the bed of the truck.

The weapons include a twelve gauge shot gun, a full automatic M-16, a sniper rifle and a fully automatic submachine gun.

All the weapons were loaded, and the extra ammunition in the truck was also taken.

Some of the weapons are so powerful, they can't be purchased in gun shops, and only the military and police have access to them.

Eric Shadowens, an expert marksmen who spent eight years in the army, said, "Those types of weapons are not used for hunting to recreational purposes. They are used for one thing and that's to end lives."

Police want the weapons off the streets, so they are currently searching for the person who took them.

The Dayton Police Department isn't commenting about the crime.

Police say criminals are known to "case" their targets, watching for citizens who they see storing their firearm or other valuables before leaving their vehicles. As we have documented on this website recently, the Ohio State Highway Patrol's dangerous 'plain sight' car carry language has already helped put a stolen gun on the street. We warned Senators about this, and on something like this, we don't like being right.

We hope legislators remove the 'plain sight' requirements before we are proven right on our prediction that
that this ridiculous language, which was inserted to avoid a Taft veto, will also result in accidental discharges, since fulfilling the law's demands requires too much firearms handling.

Related Stories:
Has ridiculous ''plain sight'' provision claimed first victim?

Business' CCW bans contribute to increased potential for firearms theft

The following story, written by OFCC PAC Senate District 10 Coordinator Larry S. Moore, was published today in the Greene County Dailies (Xenia Daily Gazette, Fairborn Herald, Beavercreek News Current).

November 5, 2004

The great American gun debate has been in the spotlight throughout this election year. There are many points on both sides of the debate. Perhaps those who claim to be in the moderate midsection of the political spectrum are tired of hearing about the gun issue. Along with freedom of speech, voting issues, national security, and civil rights, the gun issue is one of the key issues in determining the future of the United States.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute at The Ohio State University hosted a debate between two of the leaders on each side of the issue. The question was “Should Government in a Free Society Limit Gun Ownership". Arguing for the affirmative side was Mr. John Kessler, Policy Director for the Americans For Gun Safety, where he develops new policies for legislation to control guns. Kessler has a Masters Degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Dr. John Lott, who is a Research Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, argued against gun controls. Dr. Lott earned his Master and Doctorate degrees at UCLA.

Kessler, who spoke first, noted, “I thank Dr. Lott, who is the intellectual backbone of the gun movement, for being here. Forty-seven per cent of homes have guns with roughly 250 million guns in private hands. There are seven to eight million new firearms purchased each year. Massive gun trafficking operations are taking guns into high crime areas through the black market. Ninety per cent of crimes are committed with handguns. There are one hundred thousand Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders in America but only thirty-two gun stores were prosecuted in 2003. There is little to no enforcement of the laws. Additionally 150,000 guns are stolen each year. The only two products that sell for more on the black market than their retail price are prescription drugs and guns.”

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

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that while voters were casting ballots that made him Butler County's top vote getter, Coroner Richard P. Burkhardt was being attacked Tuesday.

According to the report, the 65-year-old coroner had just attended services at St. Joseph Church on Washington Street around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday when a man approached him in the church parking lot and asked for a ride.

Burkhardt agreed, police said, but then the young man told Burkhardt he had a knife and demanded money.

Burkhardt told the robber that he's familiar with knives and not threatened by them, Police Chief Neil Ferdelman told the paper. Police reports say the man, who never showed a knife, punched Burkhardt in the mouth, stole his wallet and fled.

According to the Enquirer, police are following leads on possible suspects.

This type of crime is unusual in the daytime, Ferdelman told the newspaper, and the area around the church has had no significant problem with similar incidents.

"'Dr. B' wanted to be helpful," Ferdelman was quoted as saying. "But it's an important lesson that we all want to be on guard against crime."

Commentary:
"On guard": Despite repeated warnings, and without any demonstration whatsoever that there was a need, legislators who passed HB12 included places of worship among the list of buildings where concealed carry license-holders may not protect themselves.

No one had any facts or research to indicate that law-abiding, licensed gun owners pose any threat or danger in a place of worship, nor has any history of problems in other states been identified.

On every trip to and from worship, Ohio CHL-holders are rendered defenseless by state law (unless they have received special permission from church/synagogue/mosque officials). This simply should not be.

Related Stories:
Sex offender attacks child's mother on way to church

Letter to the editor: Some gun bill provisions deserve to be repealed

Masked gunman terrorizes church

94-year-old Toledoan attacked on way to church: ''We are so helpless''

''Victim Zone'' exclusions are BAD for law-abiding Ohio citizens

November 04, 2004
NRAILA.org

Fairfax, VA—The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) earned a 95% success rate of endorsed congressional candidates winning their races. The Association also won two major battles over anti-hunting initiatives, as voters in Alaska and Maine rejected ballot issues banning bear hunting methods.

Of the 251 candidates endorsed by NRA for the U.S. House of Representatives, 241 candidates won. 14 of the 18 NRA-endorsed U.S. Senate candidates won their races.

“This election was crucial for the Second Amendment,” said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. “The NRA stands for freedom, our members are defenders of freedom and we are proud to see that gun owners across the country came out and voted for freedom.

“I really hope that national Democratic leaders stop taking this party off the cliff and look at the heartland and the wreckage this issue has caused. They have to start putting up candidates who support gun rights and have a voting record to match their photo-ops,” added LaPierre.

The election outcome continues a strong winning streak for NRA-PVF endorsed candidates. In 2000, NRA had an 85% success rate, followed by an 89% success rate in 2002. NRA’s impressive numbers illustrate the strength of gun owners as a voting bloc each election cycle.

“We’ve seen a real political sea change in this country since Al Gore’s defeat in 2000,” added Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. “A number of anti-gun candidates attempted to hide their gun-control agendas to get elected. Fortunately, savvy gun owners saw through misleading campaign tactics and voted for true pro-gun candidates election year,” concluded Cox. Chris W. Cox serves as Chairman of NRA - PVF.

November 04, 2004
CNSNews.com

A Second Amendment group, relieved to have a stronger pro-gun majority on Capitol Hill and a gun-friendly president in the White House, says it will now press for an expansion of the nation's armed pilots program.

The real work begins now," the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said in a press release congratulating gun owners who turned out in record numbers on Tuesday to protect their interests.

"This is the first real opportunity that gun owners have had in recent memory to go on the offensive," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.

In addition to improvements in the armed pilots program, CCRKBA is calling for national concealed carry legislation for private citizens, which it sees as vital for homeland security.

CCRKBA says it was the first group to call for the arming of commercial airline pilots -- doing so on Sept. 11, 2001 - "while smoke was still rising from the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia."

Although Congress passed legislation creating the armed pilots program, CCRKBA has been very critical of federal bureaucrats who are "deliberately road-blocking that important program."

According to Gottlieb, "It is time for Congress and the White House to fix the armed pilots program, and to provide the same right of national concealed carry to law-abiding American citizens that they provided this year to off-duty and retired police officers.

"No matter what an American citizen does for a living, they do not leave their right of self-defense at the border of their home state."

Gottlieb said this is a good time for gun owners to begin fighting to regain their "lost firearms freedoms." The goal, he said, is "expanding the ability of all Americans to be safe, in the air, on our streets and in our homes."

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms describes itself as one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations.

By Alan Gottlieb and Joe Waldron

Democrats didn't get it and the media still doesn't. A record turnout of gun owners has once again helped shape the political landscape, this time around not only retaining control of the White House, but also reinforcing the strength of the Republican majority in both houses of Congress.

Firearms owners, including millions of hunters, were far quicker to see through the façade John Kerry and his strategists tried to build, attempting to portray the Massachusetts liberal as pro-gun and pro-hunting when his 20-year voting record belied that image. When a politician has a track record of supporting every kind of restrictive gun control scheme that lands on his desk it is impossible to reinvent that person as a hunter and shooter. It's not just that "that dog don't hunt," it's more like the dog has no legs and is blind to boot.

Whatever Sen. Kerry was thinking when he showed up at a canned pheasant hunt in Iowa, a shooting range in Wisconsin and more recently on a photo-op goose shoot in Ohio, if he actually believed these publicity stunts would gain him acceptance from a voting block he has consistently acted against, it would indicate he was not capable of being president of the United States. Nobody that stupid should be in the Oval Office.

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