One of the most egregious problems with the law created by Amended Substitute House Bill 12 is the compromise language on carrying in a motor vehicle.

In order to appease the Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucrats, who seem to have a very unhealthy fear of the people they are paid "to serve and protect", the Ohio Senate inserted language which makes carrying a firearm for self-defense in a motor vehicle a difficult challenge.

Thanks to a few term-limited Republican Senators who were unwilling to commit to a veto-override vote over hopes for job appointments from Bob Taft, Ohioans are now struggling to comply with a "concealed handgun license" law that:

A quick search of the words "Lima News" on this website's search engine will reveal that the Lima News has been one of the few Ohio media outlets with an editorial board that takes a friendly outlook on your personal right to self-defense.

So imagine our surprise when we began receiving emails from concerned customers, reporting that they had seen "No-CCW" signs on the front door of the very same newspaper.

The publisher responded to an email from an OFCC volunteer in a way that seems to indicate that he is either operating under a very large misunderstanding, or a deliberate attempt to confuse customers:

Dear Sir:

I am the person responsible for the posting of the no firearms sign at our entrances. This is in response to the law signed by Governor Bob Taft that went into
effect April 8, 2004 allowing individuals to carry concealed weapons. We
are a private employer and own this property. However, if we were located
on county property, interpreting the new law, we might also be required to
post the notice. The law provides a list of specific places where concealed weapons will automatically be prohibited and mentions criminal charges that may be imposed. If you visit any government owned buildings,
public gathering areas where the law has been applied, you will find the
same posting. The listing of these places can be found at
www.ohiochamber.com if you would like further information.

I regret you find the posting offensive but we believe as a private employer with responsibility to all I work with we needed to inform our employees and the public of the law and policy now in effect.

Sincerely,
Stephen C. Johnson
Publisher
The Lima News

If anyone can discern what Johnson's lesson on government building bans has to do with the Lima News voluntarily choosing to tell customers with CHLs to stay out, please let us know.

Mr. Johnson can be reached at 419-993-2073 or sjohnson@limanews.com.

This website has often shared stories which make the point how police officers are typically unable to prevent violent crimes, and are instead often relegated to showing up later for mop-up duty.

But in this case, after receiving a tip, the Columbus SWAT team watched as two armed, masked robbers entered this restaurant (a MANDATED victim zone because they serve alcohol - not that the criminals cared), but did nothing. They heard a shot fired, but did nothing. Only when the robbers "eventually" exited the building did they move to apprehend the attackers. Proving yet again that only YOU can be reponsible for your personal protection - even with SWAT standing right outside...

April 26, 2004
NBC4columbus.com

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio -- Police said that shots were fired inside a Reynoldsburg restaurant before it was set to close Sunday night.

NewsChannel 4's Kyle Anderson reported that authorities received a tip that Roadhouse Grill, located at 2444 Brice Rd., was going to be robbed.

Columbus SWAT officers set up outside the restaurant and waited for something to happen, Anderson reported.

At approximately 10 p.m., police said that two men with masks entered the restaurant. At least one shot was fired as they entered the building.

The men eventually left the restaurant with an unknown amount of money, police said. As the pair left, SWAT officers confronted them and took them into custody without incident, Anderson reported.

The suspected driver of a getaway car was also taken into custody, police said.

No one was injured, and police did not give details about how they were tipped off about the alleged robbery.

In what is a very positive sign, Lucas Co. Sheriff James A. Telb's office has moved to taking CHL applications without appointments. This is the first of the offices to scrap temporary appointments after the initial surge of applicants.

Telb's office tells OFCC PAC that applicants who had previously been forced to schedule appointments into June (!!) do NOT have to wait to submit their applications: "They can now come in anytime and apply." The sheriff's office indicates that they are calling those with appointments to inform them of same.

Telb's office is currently processing 25-30 applications per day, and did more than 30 per day a few times last week. They have accepted over 400 applications so far. The office will accept temporary emergency license applications as per the law as well.

They have extended hours to 6:00 PM on Tuesdays to try to help people who work, and are welcoming people from adjoining counties to apply any time.

The office hopes to have background checks on the first round of applicants completed by next week, will then issue the first round of Lucas County licenses.

In related news, cracks may be forming in Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul's refusal to accept applications. The sheriff's website now indicates that they will accept temporary emergency license applications, and claims they have been since April 16. If you have already applied, or are planning to apply, for a temporary emergency license in Cuyahoga County, please email info@buckeyefirearms.org with details on your experience.

To hear the gun ban extremists tell it, these things don't happen (especially not in small towns), and those who make preparations to defend themselves in case they do, are "buying into a culture of fear."

Concealed handgun licenses are only now starting to be issued in the counties where these crimes occurred. Of course, the criminals that perpetrated them didn't worry about getting licenses first...

Gahanna: Worker slain at open-air market

Springfield: Man forces wrecks, then robs cars' occupants

Delta: Man arriving at work is shot in head

Ohioans For Concealed Carry has learned that the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) may be interpreting the new Ohio concealed handgun license (CHL) law to mean that off-duty police officers may not carry in businesses which have posted discriminatory signs banning concealed carry.

Although the OACP position is flawed (click on the "Read More..." link below for commentary by a Cleveland police sergeant and OFCC executive Board of Directors member), business banners should be made aware that they are not only barring CHL-holders from shopping in their establishments, but also at least some law-enforcement officers.

As usual, criminals will carry in these businesses at will.

Another reporter shops a concealed-carry class, another excellent story on the professionalism and thoroughness of Ohio CCW training.

April 25, 2004
Toledo Blade

Pulling trigger: a chilling moment of truth
"Classes miss no targets in training applicant to qualify to obtain a concealed weapons permit"

Sobering. Reality check. Practice!

I wrote those words in capital letters among many pages of notes I took during 10 hours of classroom training at the Cleland Firearms Training Academy in Swanton. I wrote them as summary reminders of the deadly seriousness of the subjects in the lectures.

The words were in the back of my mind every time I pulled the trigger of my .38 revolver during two required hours of range training at qualification. After a warm-up on a small bull's-eye target and on paper silhouettes at 21, 40, and 50 feet, I fired 55 rounds for the official certification.

I was one of 13 students in my academy class and among 500 who have trained at Cleland's in order to apply for an Ohio concealed-carry weapons permit. I am among thousands of Ohioans who have decided to give concealed-carry a go since an enabling law took effect April 8.

I needed to see what it was all about, down where all the political rhetoric - pro or con - is left behind. You really have to spend some time thinking: Can I, would I, really pull the trigger? If I have a shred of doubt, I should forget concealed carry, forget handguns. I only may hurt myself or others without cause.

I need to think about such things, and the myriad implications and complications, before the fact. There is no time for such niceties at the moment of truth, when I may have to instantly weigh whether to pull my pistol and shoot someone in ultimate self-defense. For that is what concealed carry is all about.

"Deadly force is the bread and butter of this course - when can you shoot," summed Bradley Snow, one of the instructors. "A firearm is a tool of last resort ... when all else fails ... when you reasonably believe that you are in imminent danger of serious bodily harm and/or death.

"The first thing we have to do is avoid confrontation. Once the threat is gone, so is our ability to use [deadly] force."

The instruction process is no walk in the park. It is likewise not rocket science - all my classmates passed the written exam; one was sent home from the firing range with the suggestion of more pistol training.