by Chad D. Baus

In an op-ed published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch and Toledo Blade, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence director Toby Hoover joins the chorus of opponents to concealed carry reform who are now backing away from dire predictions of what would happen in Ohio if concealed carry reform became law.

Hoover now says she and the rest of the gun ban lobby "never painted lurid pictures of bloody shootouts in the streets."

But as recently as last week, Hoover was quoted in several Gannett News Service papers as saying, "If we have more use of guns, then we're going to have more people who are injured and die."

In 2001, she told the Cincinnati Post "A person who has a gun sees danger. We will have more shootings, more accidents."

After hearing Hoover testify against concealed carry in 2001, one Columbus Dispatch reporter summarized her testimony like this: "Gun-control advocates said it would put too many guns in malls, parks and workplaces, causing fights and accidental shootings."

The record will show that Hoover has quite a long history of dire predictions, and she is attempting to distance herself from those claims because she now knows she is about to lose what's left of her credibility, when these predictions do not come to pass.

Not only is she attempting to revise her own rhetoric, Hoover claims that she has never heard others on her side making these predictions.

A new comprehensive story on the subject of business bans, including news of new victories in getting signs removed, and new businesses that are "in need of attention" about how their signs will be interpreted by their customers, is coming soon.

April 16, 2004
Toledo Blade

Businesses and stores that post "No Firearms Allowed On These Premises" might just as well post a sign saying "Welcome Criminals, You May, At Will, Without Any Opposition, Rob Our Customers."

CCW permit-holders might just stay away from these stores and businesses in large numbers. Sales could well drop to a new low.

The least such a store should do is provide a secure storage area for a customer's firearm while he is shopping there.

As for me, if and when I obtain a CCW permit, I will make it a point not to shop where firearms are not allowed.

The law as I see it now is too restrictive as to where the weapon may be carried.

Criminals will pay no attention to this law.

KENNETH E. DITMER
Lehman Avenue

April 16, 2004
Fremont News Messenger

Guns allowed in city parks

Patrons of Fremont public parks will be able to carry concealed weapons after all.

Instead of hearing the first reading of an ordinance to prohibit concealed weapons in public parks, Fremont City officials decided Thursday to see what larger cities will do.

City Law Director Bob Hart told council that after much research on the new concealed-carry law in Ohio, he has found that the city cannot enact any ordinance to prohibit weapons in parks, only city buildings.

"The more I dug into the law, the more I found some problems," Hart said to council and city administrators. "Their intent is that the legislation of this is the general law of the state, so a city cannot enact an ordinance on their own for parks."

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