Given how little Mayor Ford seems to care about the rule of law in Toledo, we're forced to wonder just what sort of advocate he'll be for following the rules at the DNC. Then again, maybe he'll fit right in...

April 20, 2004
Toledo Blade

Toledo Mayor Jack Ford has been named vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee's rules committee for the party's convention this summer in Boston.

He was nominated for the post by national Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and was approved by the DNC executive committee. He will be one of the leaders responsible for procedural matters at the convention. He joins Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on the committee. She was named one of the co-chairmen of the committee yesterday.

"This is a great honor," Mayor Ford said.

He has been a delegate to the last three Democratic conventions, and he had a speaking part at the 2000 meeting in Los Angeles.

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As this Columbus Dispatch story points out, although insurance isn’t required in the law (and should never be), it’s something to consider as a personal choice.

It’ll cost Ohioans $45 to apply for a concealed-handgun permit, but those looking to take advantage of the new state law could find themselves shelling out hundreds more for extra insurance coverage.

Standard policies don’t cover many of the liabilities gun carriers might face, insurers say, and one of the few that does costs more than $300 a year.

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

In an op-ed published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch and Toledo Blade, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence director Toby Hoover took issue with a Toledo professor who stated that "licensees are a good deal more law-abiding than the norm, and they are well-socialized personalities who can rationally plan and conduct their own lives and actions."

Hoover's retort: "Some must be like that, but if you could read my e-mails from the license wannabees, you would find it difficult to describe them with any of those terms.

The following email to Hoover was cc'd to OFCC, and it paints a far different picture of the types of emails she is receiving than do her claims:

April 20, 2004

I have read with interest your public stance over the concealed carry laws in Ohio. I must admit I am perplexed about your reasoning.

You see, I am a retired police sergeant from Portland, Oregon, a state where we have had concealed carry for years. Police view responsible citizens with concealed carry permits as allies in thwarting criminal behavior. The incidences of CCW holders doing irresponsible things with their firearms are rare and when it occurs, they lose their right.

There are no shoot outs at traffic accidents and no Dodge City mentality. Those that carry concealed do so responsibly and it isn't a big deal with the police.

It is believed that the concealed carry implementation of several years ago contributed to a drop in criminal activity. You would do well to tone down your sky is falling rhetoric and let the system work.

Gary Crane

She may get shivers from reading such letters, but they're not because Hoover is afraid of the writer. She's afraid of the truth.

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April 18, 2004
Athens Messenger

Concealed carry snag
Mental-health check snafu halts permit process

The concealed carry permit application process has slowed because mental health-care centers are not releasing records prior to April 8 — the date the concealed carry law went into effect.

Athens County Sheriff Vern Castle said he has about 120 applications piled on a desk in the sheriff's office that cannot proceed because the background checks cannot be completed.

The Appalachian Behavioral Healthcare Center, 100 Hospital Drive, told the sheriff's office it would not release patient records for anyone at the center before the law went into effect, Castle said.

Appalachian Behavioral Health-care did not return phone calls.

The Ohio Mental Health Department is not aware who is responsible for providing the background information regarding applicants' mental health records, said department spokeswoman Laura Wentz. The department is awaiting clarification from the Ohio Attorney General's Office about whether it is the mental health department's duty to release records or if probate courts are to provide mental health records.

Wentz said that whenever Attorney General Jim Petro clarifies the issue, the department will notify health-care centers.

The concealed carry law faced a federal hurdle in the form of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which makes all medical records private.

In Athens County, the probate court has taken it upon itself to do background checks, Castle said. But so far no one has received the sheriff's approval yet for a permit.

"The probate court volunteered to do this, so we are at their mercy," Castle said.

Commentary:
This question has long been solved in the minds of the rest of Ohio's sheriffs (less the three which we know are refusing to process applications).

R.C. 5122.311 says mental records shall be checked with "probate courts OR chief clinical officers" at hospitals - not 'and'. That's a very important distinction, which goes to the heart of this supposed snafu in Athens County.

Sheriffs can be in 100% compliance with the law on background checks without receiving a single piece of information from hospitals. We've all know it for months, but apparently someone still needs to get the news to Sheriff Vern Castle.

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