by Chad D. Baus

As I stood in the lobby at the Sheriff's office, waiting for my photograph to be taken, my attention was drawn to a large rack of informational brochures.

There, among the advice about not driving drunk, just saying no to drugs, and gun safety pamphlets, was an interesting little tri-fold from the Ohio Attorney General, entitled "Shedding Light on Rural Crime".

It starts like this...

Dear Fellow Ohioan:

In the past 20 years, Ohio's rural crime rate has increased by a staggering 600 percent. Not a very comfortable statistic, is it? Recent housing trends have brought more and more unfamiliar faces to rural communities, and it is no longer easy to spot an outsider. Criminals know that you have a lot of money tied up in machinery, livestock and equipment; and modern transportation enables them to travel into a rural area, determine an easy target, commit a crime, and be miles away before the victim ever knows what happened.

Fortunately, there is something we can do about it. An increasing number of urban, suburban and rural communities are organizing crime prevention programs, and, as a direct result, their crime rates are decreasing. Some crime prevention tactics are only common sense, but others require you to take extra measures to protect yourself from crime. It is always easier to prevent a crime before it happens than to attempt to solve it afterwards. I strongly encourage all Ohioans to use effective crime prevention tactics such as those described in this brochure.

This header followed:

"It Will Never Happen to Me."

An increasing number of people are beginning to see the folly in that statement. Crimes happen to everybody, especially people who think it will never happen to them. They are less likely to take precautions which will decrease their vulnerability to crime.

Preventing crime is every citizen's responsibility. Law enforcement officers can help protect us, but they cannot be everywhere at the same time. Usually law enforcement officers become involved only after a crime has been committed.

I was shocked to see such honest, truth-filled, matter-of-fact statements by the Ohio Attorney General:

Rural crime increasing at a "staggering" pace; criminals find easy targets in rural areas; crime prevention "every citizen's responsibility"; law enforcement "cannot be everywhere at the same time', and officers are often relegated to mop-up duty.

I thought to myself: "We can sure use such honestly these days, amidst claims that concealed carry proponents are endorsing a "culture of fear", that it's only rural citizens demanding licenses to bear arms for self-defense and that they are not at risk of becoming victims, or that we should just leave it up to law enforcement to prevent crime from occurring."

It was then that I noticed: This brochure was printed in 1989, by then-Attorney General Anthony J. Celebreeze, Jr.

The truth is out there...and in some cases, it has been for a very, very long time.

April 12, 2004
WCPO.com

300 In Clermont County Want Concealed Carry Permits

The response to Ohio's new concealed carry law has been overwhelming.

Clermont County reports 300 people have applied for concealed carry permits.

But Sheriff Rodenburg said no permits have been issued yet.

He said the state computer the department uses to do criminal background checks has been down possibly because it is overwhelmed.

Hamilton County issued its first concealed weapons permit Monday.

It went to Chuck Klein, a private investigator and writer who was one of four who filed suit challenging Ohio's law concealed carry law.

Commentary:
To hear the Youngstown Vindicator tell it, overall turnout for applications has been less than initially predicted by the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Many obviously are choosing not to deal with the first-day lines, the confusion, etc. This news from Clermont Co. confirms that when sheriffs make it easy to apply, people come.

Still, it is clear that the hardships some sheriffs are enforcing on applicants (in some cases in clear violation of the law), may in fact be hampering the number of applicants. OFCC is continuing to gather reports of problems, and will be making a report to the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association after the first full week of taking applications is behind us.

This news from Clermont Co. also makes it clear that, far from being an "unfunded mandate", Ohio's concealed handgun license law, designed to be revenue neutral, may actually generate significant revenue for the Sheriff's offices. 300 applications will likely cover this sheriff's initial costs - all in the first day!

Ohio's law-abiding sheriffs deserve it! For far too long, the Ohio State Highway Patrol has been winning best-dressed awards while Sheriffs have been left to beg for hand-me-down uniforms. This simply should not be.

As proof of the likelihood of revenue generation, look no further than the Ohio Attorney General's office, which is holding a public hearing in preparation for creating rules to govern "what to do" with the revenue Ohio's Right to Carry law generates for sheriffs. Click here to download a press release in .pdf format.

The Ohio media has finally caught up with what readers of this website have known since early Saturday - gun ban lobby are now trying to do in court what they could not do in the legislature - subvert the Ohio Constitution and the Will of the People (as expressed by the Ohio General Assembly) on the right to bear arms for self-defense.

While the media treated the law-breaking by Cuyahoga Co. Sheriff Gerald McFaul, and subsequent submission of a writ of mandamus to force him to do his duty under the law, as a brief mention in other stories, Ohio's liberal media are trumpeting this news in headline stories across the state.

A quick read-through will reveal that this suit is nothing but a political vendetta in the guise of mandamus. In fact, many people have questioned the validity of using mandamus to order sheriffs NOT to follow the law, and thus questioned why OFCC is making an urgent pleading for funds to mount a defense.

Look no further than the 5-2 ruling on Kleis vs. Leis to get the answer:

The activist Ohio Supreme Court believes it doesn't need validity or the rule of law to issue anti-gun, anti-Constitution ruling that flies in the face of all logic and fact.

OFCC member Greg Wilk points out that "in his now infamous majority opinion Justice Pfeifer states, 'It is not a court's function to pass judgment on the wisdom of the legislature...' As the General Assembly has now in its wisdom made
concealed carry legal, we'll see whether the court still abides by this view or whether they will find some other ad hoc principle that suits its prejudices."

Hoover is bring represented by none other than the law firm which employs Stephanie Trudeau, the Cleveland lawyer who began shopping an anti-self-defense op-ed just days after the law was passed.

The "defendants" named by the anti-gun lobby were all opposed to concealed carry reform, and will not defend the law. OFCC must. We must. You must.

CLICK HERE TO GET INFORMATION ON HOW TO DONATE TO DEFEND OHIO RIGHT TO CARRY.

You don't depend on others to defend your life, don't depend on others to defend your rights. Donate today.