Something to consider while you wait in line at your sheriffs' office for your concealed handgun license.

Starting tomorrow, April 8, 2004, you may apply for an Ohio Concealed Handgun License. This has been a long battle.

Earlier today, OFCC issued an alert reminding everyone to be patient, professional and understanding of the reasonable problems that sheriffs' have while doing their best to do their new job.

It is important to remember that your county sheriff is an elected official.
Every sheriff will be up for re-election this November. (There is at least
one sheriff who will not be on the ballot because he lost his primary in
March.)

Money and politics go hand in hand. When you apply for a concealed handgun
license, you will be handing your sheriff $45 (and in some cases, an
additional $24 for an FBI background check).

OFCC lobbied hard to keep the application cost low. Many states charge $100 for their license. Each sheriff has spent upwards of $10,000 to be ready for Thursday. Some estimates indicate the sheriffs will lose money on every application. Time will tell if these estimates are accurate, but
be assured that the sheriff is not getting rich from license fees.

So what?

If your sheriff does a great job of processing applications, consider making a donation to the sheriff's department or to his/her re-election campaign. Please thank your sheriff for doing a great job. It is to your advantage to use this opportunity to build a relationship with your sheriff.

What is your sheriff does not do a good job?

If you obtain your license from an adjoining county, because they do a much
better job than your sheriff, then you really need to thank them. Sending a
check (even a very small one) to a neighboring sheriff, with a letter
thanking him for doing a great job, with a copy sent to your sheriff who
refused to do his job, (or just does it poorly) will send a strong message
to every sheriff.

If you reward a sheriff who does a good job, and remind a sheriff who does
a poor job, Ohio will have more sheriffs' doing their best.

We would like to remind applicants that the Buckeye State Sheriff's
Association (by a strong majority vote of the 88 sheriffs) fought
diligently for Ohio's new concealed carry law, alongside OFCC.

Thank our friends. Reward our friends. Most sheriffs were there for us
when we needed them. Make sure you return that favor. We want their help
in improving our new law.

Jim Irvine
Chairman, OFCC PAC

UPDATE: LexisNexis Anderson Publishing website corrected

EXCLUSIVE: MUST CREDIT www.OhioCCW.org

Ohioans For Concealed Carry has discovered that LexisNexis Anderson Publishing, the nation's primary publisher of "legal treatises, professional journals, law school textbooks, criminal justice publications, and legal forms", has an incorrect version of Ohio's new concealed handgun license law on it's website, http://onlinedocs.andersonpublishing.com

The version that has somehow made it's way into print, and is falsely published as Ohio Revised Code, is actually the Senate-passed version of House Bill 12.

Frequent readers of this website will recall that the Senate's version of House Bill 12 contained many "poison pills", inserted at the demand of Governor Taft. The most egregious of these "poison pills" was the Carjacker Protection provision, which mandated that CHL-holders could not carry a firearm for self-defense in their personal vehicle with a person under 18 as a passenger.

After intense lobbying and grassroots efforts by OFCC supporters, the Carjacker Protection provision (along with certain other Taft/ Senate poison pill amendments), was removed by a House/ Senate Conference Committee, and is NOT law.

Sources tell OFCC that at least some Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) instructors have been teaching students that the Senate's version is law in Ohio.

At this time, we do not know how this error occurred, or who supplied Anderson's with the wrong version of HB12. We do not know the length of time this has been listed as Ohio law by Anderson's, nor do we know how many students were educated incorrectly by OPOTA.

It is NOT believe that NRA-certified instructors were effected in any way by this error, but individual cases may vary.

The Ohio Attorney General's office website currently provides links ONLY to OPOTA instructors. Please visit www.OhioCCWTraining.org to find a list of NRA-certified instructors.

A call to Senate President Doug White's press secretary requesting comment has not yet been returned.

Ohioans For Concealed Carry is in communication with the Ohio Attorney General's office and OPOTA about this error, to learn how it occurred, and to ensure that it is corrected quickly.

Related Stories:
READ THE LAW (An Act: House Bill 12) (.pdf)

OFCC Victory: Ding, Dong, ''Carjacker Protection'' Is Dead

Ohio's media outlets are continuing to provide extensive coverage of the pending implementation of Ohio's new concealed carry reform law.

We wish we had time to evaluate and comment on potential inaccuracies in each one, but it's just coming too fast. As always, read with a watchful eye, and keep in mind the credibility of the source!

Click on the "Read More..." link below for a long list of links to Ohio media coverage.