In response to a misguided second-year economics student's letter to the editor, a Senior at Ohio State University who was there when the bullets began to fly has written an excellent rebuttal, which has been published in the University newspaper:

January 10, 2005
The (OSU) Lantern

I would like to respond to Kent Cherny's Jan. 3 comments regarding the Damage Plan concert, where four people were murdered and the perpetrator was also killed. I attended the show that night; we were a few people away from Dimebag's side of the stage when it happened. The shooter came from behind Darrell, and the only way to do that is from backstage. The gunman had pushed past security and entered the venue backstage. The media reported several times that he climbed on the stage from the crowd, which he absolutely did not. Pat downs and metal detectors would not have prevented this tragedy from happening.

We go to Alrosa because it is an intimate setting, without a ton of security; you can crowd surf up to the stage and slap hands with your heroes without getting kicked out. More "security" is not the answer. Instead of taking away more of our freedom, we need to use the ones we have, namely our right to own a gun. We need to learn to protect ourselves and quit relying on everyone else, be it the police, government or even business owners, like Rick Catula of the Alrosa Villa. It's not his fault a deranged maniac murdered Dime. The fault lies only with the person who pulled the trigger and fortunately he is dead.

If I would have had a gun and been trained to use it, by God I would have. I have been seriously considering buying a gun and taking a training class. Conceal-carry laws are not for the criminals. Criminals can not even receive a conceal-carry permit, nor do I believe they would apply. These laws are meant for law-abiding citizens who need to protect themselves in the absence of police.

Most importantly, we lost a music legend on Dec. 8, 2004. Rest in peace Dime. We will always have your music.

Marissa Cantrell
Political Science
Senior

Related Story:
Columbus nightclub: Disarmed CHL-holder watched helplessly as people died

Coming on the heels of two high-profile sexual assaults committed against defenseless women on Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) rest stop property, and after several reports of improperly placed signs incorrectly informing CHL-holders that they were not allowed to carry in rest stop parking areas, ODOT clarified its CCW policy with regard to Ohio rest stops.

ODOT's Assistant Legal Counsel, Michaela J. Peterson told OFCC PAC that "it is our policy, in accordance with Ohio law, to post "No Firearms" signs on the doors of all rest stop facilities."

But in that same communication, and despite having been reminded that Ohio law allows CCW on state-owned property outside the building itself, Peterson also insisted that ODOT would continue to improperly post "no-guns" at entrances to state garages:

"With regard to the county garages, we reserve the right to place the signs in a conspicuous location, as contemplated in the law, in order to put the public on notice that concealed weapons are not permitted in any state owned or leased building."

If ODOT truly wishes to inform visitors to these garages about the law, they need to try harder. The signs which are now posted at entrances to parking areas of garages that say firearms are illegal "ANYWHERE ON THESE PREMISES".

Discriminatory "no-guns" signs are posted at Cincinnati-basedSkyline Chili's across Ohio.

But thanks to the actions of a couple of hungry patrons in Columbus, there may be some light on the horizon...

Submitted to OhioCCW.org by Craig G.:

A friend of mine and I, (both of us CHL holders) have been eating lunch at the Skyline Chili on Rome-Hilliard Rd. on the west side of Columbus for a year or so now (and doing it armed since obtaining our permits in April).

We eat there a time or two a week. We are known to the people that work there as regulars but none of them ever knew that we were CHL holders or that we carried until a few weeks ago.

About two or three weeks ago, we arrived for one of our weekly traditionals for our three-way and Skyliner only to find a new front door posting of a "no concealed firearms" sign. Well, having already made the trip and after securing our firearms, we decided that we might as well enjoy our last trip and have our farewell Skyline lunch.

While we were there, I decided to go ahead and voice my displeasure to the manager. Unfortunately, he wasn't there to speak to. I say unfortunately only because that's what I should say in that situation. Really I was sort of relieved; this gave us an excuse to come back. (Hey, we love this place!)

Our next trip in, I found the manager in. He is a man who I had seen many times but had never actually spoken to. I called him over to chat. We spoke for about 10 minutes about the downfalls of banning law-abiding citizens and inviting armed robbers into his restaurant. I explained that I had reported them as a DNPWA location and that as long as they remained so, we would not be back.

To our surprise, he explained that he understood our position and asked that we check back in a week after he spoke with his supervisor and if he could, he would get the signs removed.

Well, it's been about two weeks (the holidays got in the way of our normal routine) and we just stopped back by. To our amazement the signs were down!

After enjoying our normal Three-Way and Skyliner (while carrying concealed I might add), I again called the manager over. He said corporate didn't like it but he took the signs down anyway.

I encourage you to take the time to talk to, to educate the management of these businesses, that most times for unfounded reasons, post these "no concealed carry signs".

At least for now, we have a Skyline to enjoy. It sounded to me like this manager is obviously bucking the system and eventually the system may win and the signs might go back up. But the more we make the effort to educate these business the better our chances of beating the system. Ultimately, the goal is, seeing fewer of those "no gun signs" on our skyline!

Craig G.

Craig has it exactly right. CHL-holders everywhere need to make the effort to educate these business-people. Many have been misled, and even lied to, by gun ban extremists.

As for Cincinnati-based Skyline Chili's corporate policy, the following is representative of what is being told to anyone who contacts the company at http://www.skylinechili.com:

-----Original Message-----
From: "Linda Schwan"

Subject: Your Email to Skyline
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004

We received your comments regarding our company policy of prohibiting firearms in our restaurants. We are sorry that this policy has negatively impacted your ability to enjoy our restaurants. We never want to lose a customer and we can assure you that this was not a decision that was made lightly. However, based on input from local police, the trade associations of which we are a member and our corporate counsel, we determined that the safety and well-being of all of our customers and employees was better served by prohibiting firearms on our restaurant premises, even by licensed permit holders.

We recognize and respect the fact that there are different viewpoints on this issue.

Again, we are sorry our policy has interfered with your ability to patronize our restaurants.

Sincerely,

Linda Schwan
*SKYLINE CHILI, INC.*