Ohioans For Concealed Carry continues to receive letters from persons upset about the Salvation Army's decision to post discriminatory and dangerous "no-guns" in their retail stores.

Following is one (shortened) example...along with a canned reply which is being copied to anyone who emails the Army about this issue:

Why we donated $550 worth of items to someone else

From: Gary M.
Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2004 22:49:37 -0500
CC: "Ohioans for Concealed Carry"
To: swo@salvationarmy-usaeast.org

To the Salvation Army,

A few days ago we took two vans full of items worth over $550 to one of the
Ohio Thrift Stores. We would have preferred to have donated them to your
organization. However, as a concealed carry permit holder, and a member of
Ohioan's for Concealed Carry, I will refrain from making any further
donations to your organization until you remove those no guns signs from
all of your facilities. The only thing they accomplish is to set up
criminal protection zones in your stores. Criminals know that you have
disarmed your customers by forcing them to leave their protection behind in
their cars. They are sitting ducks for robberies in your parking lots and
your stores. Just this morning one of my co-workers told me that her
daughter witnessed a robbery attempt in the Target store on Brice Road in
Reynoldsburg on Saturday or Sunday. A man grabbed a woman's purse and was
trying to get away with it. Another woman who had a concealed carry permit
came to her aid. She pulled out her gun and order the robber to let
go. She succeeded in scaring the robber off and prevented the robbery.

If you care so much about protecting the criminals in your stores by
disarming your law abiding customers, and you care so little for my
personal safety in your parking lots and your store, then you'll never see
another donation from me again so long as your misguided no guns policy is
in place. However, if at some point you decide to remove those signs and
the protection they now give to criminals, we will once again make you our
first priority for donations in the future. Thanks.

Gary M.
Gahanna, OH

-------------------------------

Subject: Re: Why we donated $550 worth of items to someone else
From: KMaynor@USE.SalvationArmy.org
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 10:06:42 -0500
To: Gary M.
CC: "Ohioans for Concealed Carry"

Gary,

There is no doubt you are passionate about your right to bear arms. We
certainly support that right protected by the constitution of the United
States. We are saddened by your decision. The same reasons to donate to
the Army yesterday are still valid today.

May God richly bless you.

Related Story:
Salvation Army to some donors & shoppers: ''Merry Christmas...and STAY OUT''

Despite evidence proving that more gun crimes occur in places where guns are banned, and at the advice of gun ban extremists, the General Assembly created an extensive list of places where CHL-holders are automatically prohibited from going.

As a result, criminals find it that much easier to commit illegal acts against the defenseless people they find in these places, which is why we believe it appropriate to term bars, college campuses, etc. as state-mandated "criminal protection" or "victim disarmament" zones:

December 5, 2004 - Columbus Dispatch:
John Carroll investigates sexual-assault reports

John Carroll University is investigating three possible sexual assaults on female students. Two of the three cases occurred on the University Heights campus, he said. The latest was about two weeks ago. Rombalski said some form of "date-rape" drug may have been used in one instance. Last week, university officials sent an e-mail telling students about the suspected assaults and invited them to a forum held Friday.

December 2, 2004 - Cleveland News Sun:
Armed robbers caught after long car chase

Three Cleveland men were arrested for aggravated robbery and a host of other charges Nov. 20 after police chased them into Cleveland. According to the police report, the incident started at 2:07 a.m., when a man reported that he was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Englebrook Lounge. The victim told police the suspect got into a silver car and fled east on Brookpark Road. He reportedly followed the suspect and provided a partial license plate number for the getaway vehicle.

A West 148th Street resident called Cleveland police later that day to report finding a revolver matching the description of the one used in the robbery. The weapon contained three live rounds and three spent shells.

Is it just us, or is this happening more and more frequently?

The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting that a clerk at a Holland Oil Citgo station in Akron was treated at a hospital after two masked gunmen dragged her by the hair, struck her in the head with a gun and shoved the gun in her mouth.

Police told the paper the robbery occurred around 7:30 a.m. Sunday at the Holland Oil station in the 1200 block of Triplett Boulevard.

The Beacon Journal reports the gunmen made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The news editors at the Beacon Journal did NOT bother themselves to mention that Holland Oil posts "no-guns" signs at all of its Citgo filling stations in northeast Ohio.

For contact information for this and other dangerous locations, visit OFCC's Do Not Patronize While Armed database.

UPDATE! Approximately sixty Holland Oil's Citgo gas/convenience stores can be found in a six-county area in and around Summit County. All are privately owned by Chuck Holland, and all have "No Guns" signs.

OFCC volunteers have tried long and hard to inform Holland Oil of the severe risk they were placing their employees in. Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

On December 6, 2004, the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette published an article intended to help Christmas shoppers avoid being victimized.

During the busy holiday season, shoppers can take some easy precautions to prevent becoming a victim of theft.

"Historically, we have seen the number of thefts go up during the holidays," Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen said. "What typically happens is that they look for targets of opportunity."

In Lancaster, there have been five robberies since Oct. 20 and 184 thefts reported since Sept. 30.

The writer, Carl Burnett Jr., even labored to obtain advice on theft prevention from a local criminal:

Phillip A. Farley, 25, of Lancaster, agreed with Phalen.

Farley recently was released from prison after being convicted of breaking and entering.

"Put stuff in your trunk," Farley said. "Don't try to cover items on your seats with a blanket."

Finally, Eagle-Gazette quoted a mall employee, who offered this advice:

Jessica Grigsby, 26, of Thornville, said it is important to make sure packages are under cover and hidden from view if they have to be left in a vehicle.

"Don't leave anything easily accessible," said Grigsby, who works at River Valley Mall.

If you're thinking this is pretty common sense stuff, you're right. This is common sense...to everyone, apparently, but the bureaucrats at the Ohio State Highway Patrol who lobbied for the "plain sight" language which currently dictates how CHL-holders may carry and store firearms in motor vehicles.

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

Subject: Hold-up in Ohio
From: "Gene E."
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 15:30:02 -0500
To: info@ofcc.net

After our Ohio Conceal Carry laws went into affect I visited a local eating establishment, only to discover they they had promptly placed a sign on the entrance
door forbidding licensed permit holders to carry a firearm in the business.

I notified notified this web site, and I mailed the owners of Timbers Restaurant at Bainbridge, Ohio 45612 that the policy of restricting my lawful right to carry a firearm inside their restaurant was not a way for them to be a safe place for me or my family. I told them that, sign or no sign, a criminal can still come in with a firearm and rob them, cause physical harm to me or my family because they were taking away my right to protect myself. Despite my letter, there was no change in their policy.

And so on Tuesday, November 30, 2004, three armed thugs came in just as the employee bagged up the cash from the register and demanded the money. They walked away with two bags of cash. The owners are out that money, which from their having these no firearms allowed signs on the entrance door has gotten them robbed because the thugs knew they were safe from being confronted
by anyone with a firearm.

Thought you might like this report that took place November 30th, at the Timbers Restaurant in Bainbridge, Ohio 45612.

Gene E.
Frankfort, OH