At first glance, this headline in the Dec. 3 Dayton Daily News, might give the appearance that the city has had some success with recent crime-fighting efforts:

"Miami Valley one of the safest places to walk"

And to read the first paragraph, you might think Dayton's bike paths are one of the safer places to walk:

Walking is the most dangerous way to get around in the United States, according to a national study released Thursday, but the Miami Valley, with its network of recreational trails, has one of the better safety records.

But alas, this story is NOT praising the virtues of safety from criminal attack on these bike trails. Rather, this is a story about how fewer people get hit by cars in Montgomery County.

It might help to put the headline above in a proper context by viewing these two recent headlines:

Dayton Man Robbed On Bike Path

Dayton Jogger Raped on Bikeway

Is is really so safe to walk Dayton's bike paths? Oh sure, you might not meet up with the front bumper of a car, but you might well meet up with an armed criminal.

And if certain Ohio newspaper editors, city mayors and anti-gun legislators have their way with proposals to allow concealed carry to be banned on public property and in city parks, you'll be completely unable to defend yourself when you do.

Related Stories:
Ohioans For Concealed Carry Sues City of Clyde Over Concealed Handgun Ban

Attorney General: Cities cannot legally ban in parks/ on busses

Columbus Dispatch finally finds ''CCW legislation'' it likes, and it's D.O.A.

November 19, 2004
WCPO.com (9News Cincinnati)

A Tri-state woman is safe after a harrowing ordeal that started at a Monroe truck stop and ended in Indiana. Police said the 22-year-old woman was at truck stop bar in Monroe, Ohio, around 2 a.m. Wednesday when she was abducted by two men. The woman text messaged her boyfriend the following words with her cell phone:

"They got me Help."

After a day and a half, police said the woman was able to break free at a rest stop more than 250 miles away in Elkhart, Indiana, and run into a business for help.

"I asked here if she was ok and she was about to cry, She then asked me to call the police. She kept looking over her shoulder out the door," said Terri Colburn, who helped the kidnapped woman.

Police said the woman is shaken up but physically okay. The two suspects are still on the loose. Because the victim was taken across state lines, the case could end up a federal investigation, police said.

Commentary:
Even if a person is not drinking at all, or is still within the legal limit to drive a car, Ohio law renders citizens like this woman defenseless in any location that has a Class D license and is serving alcohol.

States such as Florida recognize that citizens can be trusted with firearms in restaurants that serve alcohol, and can even be trusted to consume an alcoholic beverage while carrying. In that state, the legal limits for consuming alcohol and carrying are similar to those observed for consuming alcohol and driving.

Related Stories:
Armed employee thwarts robbery attempt in company parking lot

Cincinnati Post: Jury clears bar 'hero'

Deja vu.

Last April, NewsNet5 reported a woman in her mid-20s was attacked in the bathroom at rest area off Interstate 77 in Summit County. In that report, which was also picked up by WKYC and the Akron Beacon Journal at the time, troopers said attacks at rest stops are "incredibly rare".

"I can't recall where we've had anything of this nature happen at one of these facilities. Thousands of people use the facilities each year. We never have any problems," said Lt. George T. Maier in April.

IT HAS HAPPENED AGAIN.

A live-at-the-scene WKYC news report last night (NBC 3 Cleveland) from Summit Co. reported that a 22-year old Canton woman was knocked to the ground, assaulted and robbed behind a rest stop building yesterday. Click here to view the December 2 report in streaming video.

The attack occurred in broad daylight, which the news report says has state troopers "concerned." The suspect is still at large.

In addition to the usual warnings to "be aware of your surroundings", one WKYC anchor says the solution being offered by the state is "crucial":

The state will be installing surveillance cameras next week at this particular rest stop, located on I-271 South in Richfield Twp. According to the report, the state owns 47 rest stop facilities, and will be putting cameras up at some of the newer ones.

Can they honestly believe an attacker brave enough to assault a woman in broad daylight in a public area would be deterred at all to know his crime was being captured on a camera? What kind of solution is this except to give investigators photos to go along with the battered victim?

Ohio law restricts concealed handgun license (CHL)-holders from carrying concealed inside publicly-owned buildings, such as this rest stop. And although the law does NOT restrict open carry in these places, the signs that the state Attorney General's office provides for state facilities erroneously state that ALL firearms are prohibited "anywhere on these premises", and does not differentiate between openly and concealed firearms.

Until Ohio's Right to Carry law is fixed, and as the following email from the Ohio Attorney General notes, potential victims will be forced to make the choice between self-protection and the potential for false arrest by the anti-self-defense OSHP:

While it is legal for a person to carry a weapon openly some law enforcement agencies have said such actions may prompt an arrest for inducing panic, a misdemeanor.

It is impossible to say if any particular officer will cause problems for any particular person at any particular time, but carrying openly in a rest area – while within the bounds of law – may still result in difficulties.

Mark Gribben
Director of Constituent Services
Office of Attorney General Jim Petro

According to the 2003 National Crime Victimization Survey, 93% of violent crimes against innocent citizens last year were carried out without the criminal use of a firearm. 96% of rapes and 75% of robberies were committed by criminals without firearms.

For all rapes, woman who resisted with a gun were 2.5 times more likely to escape without injury than those who did not resist, and 4 times more likely to escape uninjured than those who resisted with any means other than a gun.” (Southwick, Journal of Criminal Justice, 2000)

So why is the anti-gunners' answer to violence is to make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to obtain firearms, or the right to bear them for self-defense?

Ohio law should be amended so as to not render travelers defenseless at rest stops.

Related Stories:
Why does Ohio law prohibit self-defense at rest stops?

Woman Reports Rape At I-77 Rest Stop

Fairfax, VA—For the second year in a row, the Ohio legislature has appropriated funds so that schools can purchase the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program materials to teach gun accident prevention to children in pre-K through the third grade. The Eddie Eagle GunSafe® program has reached 18 million children in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Created by past NRA President Marion P. Hammer, in consultation with child psychologists, elementary schoolteachers, and law enforcement officers, the program gives children a simple, effective action to take should they encounter a firearm in an unsupervised situation: “If you see a gun, STOP! Don’t Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult.”

Over the years, the program has been praised by numerous groups and elected officials, including the National Safety Council, the U.S. Department of Justice, and 24 state governors. When the program was formally endorsed by the National Sheriffs’ Association in 2002, Sheriff John Cary Bittick, president of the group at the time, said, “We are proud to partner with the National Rifle Association on this very important issue, and we would like to express our full support for this program.”

NRA also regularly receives letters from parents whose children have encountered a firearm, but, because of what they learned in Eddie Eagle, avoided accidents. In fact, fatal firearm accidents in the Eddie Eagle age group have been reduced more than two-thirds since the inception of the program, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. NRA feels that gun accident prevention programs such as Eddie Eagle are a significant factor in that decline.

Commenting on the program she created, past NRA President Marion P. Hammer said, “The NRA is committed to helping keep America's children safe. This program also instills in our youth the important values of leadership, discipline, and personal responsibility that will help our children throughout their lives. It is imperative that all parents be responsible for teaching good judgment and gun safety to their children."

Interested school districts may contact the NRA Program Materials Center at (800) 336-7402, refer to code EDDIEODE, and include their IRN number. After receiving the materials schools should send a copy of the invoice to: Norma Fletcher, Ohio Dept. of Ed., 25 South Front Street, Columbus, OH 43215, or by e-mail at norma.fletcher@ode.state.oh.us. ODE will reimburse districts for the cost of the materials plus shipping and handling. NRA will maintain a record of materials purchased by schools in FY 2005. The dollars are limited and no expenditures beyond the statewide annual total will be allowed. For more information about the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program please call (800) 231-0752 or visit the Web site at www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie.

Commentary:
Please consider sharing this information with your local school officials/ school board members. The most direct evidence of a continuing lack of gun safety education in homes and schools can be found in the newspapers...and emergency rooms. This funding has been made available, but we can only count on its continuance if it is used! Don't wait for more headlines like these:

Cleveland: Boy faces charges for wounding friend
The seven-shot revolver that 14-year-old Thomas Mattice said he found behind a grocery nearly ruined two lives - the life of the boy he shot and his own.

Toledo: E. Toledo boy is shot accidentally by a juvenile
A 10-year-old East Toledo boy was hurt seriously last night in what police say was an accidental shooting in an alley behind 244 White St. near Ravine Parkway.

Dayton: Boy accidentally shot by neighbor, 5
A 7-year-old boy was accidentally shot Wednesday by his 5-year-old neighbor who was playing with a loaded .22 revolver the older boy found in an alley, police said.

Related Story:
November 16, 2003 - Ohio becomes the first state to fund gun safety education in public schools