July 30, 2004
Jointogether.org

Child Shot with Assault Weapon

This week a 12 year old Fremont Ohio boy was shot at a family gathering while playing "war" with assault rifles. According to the News Messenger, police say there were over 30 different types of weapons seized.

As the Government ignors the loss of life and injury from these weapons, Ohioans and Ohio law enforcement continue to ask for strengthening and renewal of the Federal Assault Weapon Ban before it expires on September 13.

"This child should have been protected. We hope for his recovery from his physical wounds and hope he can also survive the trauma of the violence" said Toby Hoover, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence. "Ohio gun owners and non-gun owners alike do not want military-style weapons in our neighborhoods."

Unless President Bush and Congress act, the federal ban on semi-automatic, military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips will expire on September 13, 2004.

"Ohioans deserve action to ban these weapons. We all want to know why someone can have 30 weapons to play 'war' in their homes. These weapons put all of us at risk" said Hoover. "It is past time for the President and Congress to ban all assault weapons. Not to do so is an assault on all of us."

Commentary:
Uh, wouldn't it have made a bit more sense for them to try and exploit this incident if
align="right">
the legislation they praise hadn't already been in effect for ten years when this incident occurred?

It is a true sign of the desperation of these gun ban extremists when they attempt to exploit the exact type of incident they promised ten years ago would be wiped out by passage of the Clinton Gun Ban.

The great social experiment called "gun control" is a failure, and even the Brady Campaign is now reduced to exploiting stories which prove it.

Related Stories:
A Glorious Sunset

Proof: Clinton Gun Ban failure highlighted in Columbus just weeks before sunset

More proof from gun ban extremists...that bans don't work!

CNN Poll Shows Growing Opposition to Extension of Clinton Gun Ban

Can gun control cut violence? Even anti-gun CDC finds NO proof

July 31, 2004
Elyria Chronicle-Telegram

ELYRIA — City officials aren’t ready to give up the fight to ban guns in city parks despite threats by a gun advocacy group to file a lawsuit to force it to drop the ban.
But a change is needed, according to Law Director Terry “Pete” Shilling, to limit the scope of the ban.

Shilling said he will recommend amending the ordinance approved earlier this year that bans weapons on all city lands when the Council’s Safety Committee meets on Monday. Shilling said the revision would prohibit weapons “in all buildings, structures and lands within parks owned and controlled by the City of Elyria.”

The current ordinance bans weapons on “all lands owned and controlled by the city,” Shilling said, which effectively banned weapons in parks as well as on sidewalks and city streets.

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

July 29, 2004
Athens News

The attorney for an Athens physician charged with having pulled a gun on another man in a traffic confrontation said Tuesday that police have reportedly found a number of independent witnesses of the incident.

Attorney Herman Carson, who represents ophthalmologist Jeffrey McAdoo, said that from what he has heard of the new witness reports, they appear to be "excellent" for his client's chances of beating the charge against him.

"It appears ... that there are at least five impartial witnesses right now that have given statements to the Athens Police Department," Carson said.

K. Robert Toy, the attorney for James Kirkendall, the other man involved in the incident, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

McAdoo has been charged with aggravated menacing, based on a July 9 incident in which he admittedly pulled a gun on James Kirkendall of Athens, after Kirkendall approached McAdoo's vehicle on South Shafer Street to complain about McAdoo having cut him off in traffic.

McAdoo, who has a concealed-carry firearm permit, claims that Kirkendall assaulted him, and that he brandished his gun in self-defense. Kirkendall denies having assaulted McAdoo, but has been charged with menacing, a lesser misdemeanor charge than the one McAdoo is facing.

While the case against McAdoo is pending, he has had to give up his concealed-carry permit in accordance with state law.

In a previous story on the case, The Athens NEWS suggested that McAdoo might have been the first concealed-carry permit holder in Ohio to pull his gun since the law was enacted earlier this year.

However, Chad Baus of the group Ohioans for Concealed Carry reported Tuesday, "This is not the first time that an Ohio (concealed carry permit) holder has pulled his weapon in self-defense." The Ohio General Assembly passed the concealed-carry statute in January, and it went into effect in April.

Baus cited the case of Habib Howard, a 23-year-old convenience store employee from Toledo, who shot one of two men who robbed the store in May. According to news reports, Howard, whose family owns the carryout where he worked, had only had his concealed-carry permit for three days when the incident occurred.

The alleged robber was not killed, and Howard was not charged criminally. Howard told the Toledo Blade that the robber was armed, and that he, Howard, used his handgun to save his own life.

Baus suggested that permit holders using their guns to frighten off aggressors probably happens more often than is reported in the media.

"The truth is, most of the time you're not going to hear about incidents where people pull their firearm in self-defense," he said. He added that in his opinion, a person would be justified in pulling a weapon if another driver got out of his car and came up to the first person's vehicle.

"Any time someone gets out of their car and approaches someone else, I'm going to consider that threatening," he said.

CORRECTION:
The facts will be born out in court. Until they are, OFCC has been very consistent in refraining from commenting on this story, other than to say that it seems understandable that having an enraged man exit his vehicle at a stop light and approach while screaming, could understandably be seen as threatening.

Only a prosecutor (who could decide to drop the charges) judge or jury can decide if Dr. McAdoo took the proper action to defend himself against this alleged threatening behavior.

The Athens News has published a correction in its August 2 issue.