One day after it published a very fair and balanced story on the issue of businesses asking CHL-holders to stay away, the biased Lorain Morning Journal editors went on a tear, apparently to try and make up for their losses.

It is clear that the news (see below) that signs are coming down, even in their hometown, was just too much for them.

June 10, 2004
Lorain Morning Journal

Fligner's pulls its gun ban

LORAIN -- A day after learning it was on a ''do not patronize'' list compiled by a group that supports carrying concealed weapons, Fligner's Supermarket removed a sign from its store prohibiting patrons licensed to carry concealed firearms from doing so there.

However, store owner Ben Fligner said he didn't remove the sign because he feared being on the list would cause his store to lose business from supporters of carrying concealed weapons.

''We were looking into it before,'' Fligner said, but noted he made his final decision after a phone discussion with Jim Irvine, a spokesman for Ohioans for Concealed Carry.

OFCC is compiling a list of Ohio businesses that ban concealed carry and is posting the list on its Web site at www.ofcc.net.

OFCC also sells ''do not patronize'' business cards on its Web site, which concealed carry license holders can hand out to the businesses that ban them.

Fligner said he agrees with OFCC's argument that businesses that ban concealed weapons make themselves targets for armed criminals because the criminals know there will be no one armed to confront them.

''They tend to think it's fair game,'' said Fligner.

The OFCC Web site noted yesterday in a posting that Fligner's was removed from the ''do not patronize'' list.

''After a short, informative conversation, Mr. Fligner ... removed his signs. It is once again safe to shop at Fligner's,'' the posting said.

Fligner said previously that he feared customers carrying weapons could result in gunfire in the store if they got into a spat over, for example, a place in line.

Chris Zeitler, who owns and operates Jamie's Carpet in South Amherst, which is on the OFCC list, said he has a sign posted banning concealed weapons in his store and said he has no plans to remove it.

Zeitler said he has no qualms with people carrying concealed weapons but doesn't feel they should be allowed to do so in places of business.

''It sends a confusing message to employees. They see a guy with a concealed gun, they might see it bulging, and they don't know what that person is going to use that gun for,'' said Zeitler.

Zeitler said he has already lost the business of one concealed carry advocate. He said the individual one day showed up in his office and told Zeitler that he had planned on purchasing carpet at Jamie's but changed his mind after seeing the sign that banned concealed carry.

''He told me, 'You just lost my business.' I said, 'Good, now get out of my store if you have a gun,''' Zeitler said.

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During a phone interview yesterday, Toby Hoover, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, called the OFCC a ''fringe group.''

In an e-mail to The Morning Journal, she had said concealed gun carriers are ''promoting the false danger that to have your business weapon-free invites criminal activity.''

''The reality is criminals have no way of knowing what kind of security an employer has on the premises just because he has a public prohibition of weapons,'' she said.

More than 25 area businesses and municipalities are listed on OFCC's ''do not patronize'' list.

In total, the Web site lists 650 Ohio businesses, banks and taxpayer-funded entities, such as city parks and fairgrounds, on its list.

Irvine said the do not patronize list is not a boycott. Instead, he said, it is provided as a service for concealed carriers.

Ohio made it legal to carry concealed handguns early this year, but individuals must first apply for a license before they can carry the weapons. License holders, however, are not allowed to carry a concealed weapon in certain restricted areas, such as schools, public buildings, bars and churches.

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Click on the "Read More..." link below to read the Lorain Morning Journal's letters the the editor page, which includes the Hoover letter.