March 06, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

Handgun owners may be able to apply for permits to carry concealed weapons on April 8, the day the new law takes effect, because the state has been moving faster than expected to put the mechanics in place.

"I think we will be up and running by the effective date," Robert A. Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association, said yesterday. Kim Norris, spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Petro, agreed.

Cornwell and others had predicted possible delays in implementing the law, enacted Jan. 8, because government agencies must refine the application process and write rules.

Training requirements must be completed, the application and permit must be designed, and a brochure on the gun law and the safe handling of a weapon must be prepared for each permit applicant.

Once the mechanics are in place, the sheriff of each county will begin accepting applications.

Jim Irvine of Ohioans for Concealed Carry in suburban Cleveland said the process has been smoother here than in some states.

"I’m pleasantly surprised that no big obstacles have come up," he said. "Everybody from the attorney general’s office on down has been very professional in getting this program working for the citizens of Ohio."

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Lesson #3 in the OFCC PAC Education Guide is 'Raging Against Self-Defense', an excellent essay by Dr. Sarah Thompson, Executive Director of Utah Gun Owners Alliance, and a columnist who writes a monthly column on individual rights. Thompson's essay examines the anti-gun mentality from a psychiatric perspective. Not only does she explain how such people think, but she gives excellent advice on how to better communicate with them. The following is from her opening thesis:

"About a year ago I received an e-mail from a member of a local Jewish organization. The author, who chose to remain anonymous, insisted that people have no right to carry firearms because he didn't want to be murdered if one of his neighbors had a "bad day". ...What he was really saying was that if he had a gun, he might murder his neighbors if he had a bad day, or if they took his parking space, or played their stereos too loud. This is an example of what mental health professionals call projection – unconsciously projecting one's own unacceptable feelings onto other people, so that one doesn't have to own them."

The person who wrote Dr. Thomson didn't come right out and admit his problem with projection, but the writer of an essay published at www.leanleft.com certainly does. The piece is, perhaps the best evidence we've ever seen that Dr. Thompson is right on when she asserts that gun ban extremists suffer from a defense-mechanism called projection. Consider this excerpt:

"I would feel uncomfortable carrying a loaded weapon. Very uncomfortable that I would possibly have the means to end a person's life within arm's reach. That doesn't mean I'm going to do it, or would ever be tempted. Just that fact makes me uncomfortable.

I also would feel uncomfortable knowing that anyone on the street, in the theatre, at a restaurant, at the supermarket could be carrying a loaded gun on their person. And here's why - despite training, despite temperament, despite the best of intentions: I don't trust you. That's simply it, I don't trust you. I don't trust a person who is not a licensed law enforcement officer of some kind - someone who, by virtue of their job, I would assume they have proper gun training - to carry a weapon.

I'm not concerned whether there are documented cases of this happening - I am afraid that they will, when more and more people are allowed to carry concealed weapons."

Ohio's concealed handgun license (CHL) law will soon take effect, and the fears of these gun ban extremists are becoming even more irrational. They are attempting to spread their fear to business owners, to their neighbors, and the rest of the public. You can help! Get yourself educated by reading 'Raging Against Self-Defense'. Dr. Thompson's piece can be accessed here.

Democrats drop opposition to him as Summit elections board director

March 6, 2004
Akron Beacon-Journal

State Rep. Bryan Williams is giving up his seat in the legislature to work full time as the director of the Summit County Board of Elections.

Williams' resignation announcement -- made Friday during the elections board's biennial reorganization meeting -- headed off an anticipated fight with Democrats over his reappointment to the director's job.

The Akron Republican's initial plan to hold down both jobs riled the board's Democratic leaders, who thought the elections board would get short shrift in a presidential election year when, they said, it can ill afford to be without a leader.

There also was the unresolved question of whether Williams legally could hold both positions -- a question that state Attorney General Jim Petro's office is researching, said Bob Beasley, a spokesman for Petro.

MaArea representative deployed with Air Force Reserve unit in Middle East might not be back for election. Constituents' concerns are still being heard

March 04, 2004
Akron Beacon-Journal

John Boccieri is like many Ohio residents who have enlisted in any of the reserve branches of the military: He has been called up and deployed to the Middle East.

What sets Boccieri apart, however, is that he has another significant public duty on his plate: He is the Democratic representative for House District 61, which covers parts of Stark, Mahoning and Tuscarawas counties, and all of Carroll County.

Boccieri, a captain in the Air Force Reserve, left for the Middle East on Feb. 7 and could be gone for a year. That could mean Boccieri, 34, won't be able to campaign on his own behalf for re-election in November, when he will face Randy Pope, who defeated Jonathan E. Swift in Tuesday's Republican primary.

What that doesn't mean, however, is that his constituents have no representation in Columbus. Far from it, actually.

"We knew that there was a chance that this would happen, and John has always known that he would have to set aside his duties to the caucus in order to serve the country, which is fine,'' said House Minority Leader Chris Redfern, D-Catawba Island.

Before he departed, Boccieri relinquished his role as House minority whip to Rep. Lance T. Mason of Shaker Heights. Redfern said the entire Statehouse -- Republicans and Democrats -- was supportive of Boccieri's new role.

"He's on a mission to serve the country, for gosh sakes, it's not like he's on a Club Med vacation,'' Redfern said. "People understand what he was called to do.''

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