By Ken Hanson, Esq.
Litigation Chair, Office of General Counsel
Ohioans For Concealed Carry

In response to an article published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer a few weeks ago, Ohioans For Concealed Carry submitted public records requests to the Department of Safety/ Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) to obtain any and all information on who has applied for and been issued media credentials, officially called Ohio Public Information Officer (OPIO) cards.

By way of background, the OSHP has a program where they issue identity cards to Ohio media persons, on the theory that it will allow first responders to quickly identify "legitimate" media at emergency scenes. There is no statutory or administrative provision for the issuance of these cards, and, presumably, local law enforcement would be free to ignore the cards.

OhioCCW.org is a news medium. Chad Baus' duties as News Manager for OhioCCW.org include gathering, processing, transmitting, compiling, editing, and disseminating information for the general public. As such, Baus applied for a State of Ohio News Media Credential, or OPIO card. His application became one of only three denials the state has apparently ever issued.

In the wake of the Plain Dealer story, the initial concern was that the office that handles the applications for these cards had obviously tipped off the newspaper that a member of OFCC had applied for media credentials. This is clearly inappropriate behavior on the part of the OSHP.

While the Plain Dealer reporter assumed that the purpose of the application was to obtain access to the CHL lists (a card would not be needed for this, and OFCC counts among its members those who already have OPIO cards), the true benefit in this exercise has been to uncover the duplicity involved.

The OSHP "procedure" for processing these applications is basically two sentences. Make sure the application is completely filled out, and make sure the applicant appears in a commercial media directory. The procedure explicitly states no free-lance journalists or internet-only organizations.

There is no provision for checking criminal histories. There is no provision for renewal. There is no provision for revocation. There is no provision for appeal. There is no provision that would provide for the revocation of the credentials of former WCPO 9News (Cincinnati) reporter Stephen A. Hill, who is currently serving a 5-year sentence for sexual offenses involving teenage boys. In short, there are no procedural safeguards at all.

When clamoring for the media access loophole, a provision in Ohio law which allows journalists to access the private information of Ohio Concealed Handgun License-holders, the media insisted it was necessary to make sure the wrong people were not getting licenses. But closer to home, it is perfectly OK for the media to receive credentials with no oversight whatsoever. In fact, based upon the Patrol's "procedures", Ohio's media has insured that they alone will control who is eligible for these credentials, as only "mainstream" media will appear in their self-published media directories.

Would the Ohio media sit still for a second and allow the insurance industry to decide who gets insurance licenses, without any provision for check or balance, or any semblance of due process? In what other area of state activity does the "regulated" party control the entire process?

Yet when it comes to media credentials in Ohio, if you're a member of the club already, you're eligible. If you are not, tough luck. In fact, the OSHP will even tip off the club that there was an attempted gate crashing.

OFCC has obtained copies of every application submitted for OPIO cards. These applications contain all sorts of personal information about the applicant, from height and weight to hair and eye color. Many contain home addresses. A photograph accompanies each application. We will be eagerly reviewing and using this information in the near future to make sure that the wrong sorts of people are not receiving credentials.

Interested persons are encouraged to visit OhioCCW.org often as we unravel these records. It is our hope that this government program has not been abused, but an initial review of the applications indicates that perhaps the OSHP isn't even following their own minimalist "procedures."

But then again, the mainstream media has already anointed themselves the judges of what is or isn't in the public's best interest. Why should state-issued press credentials be any different?

Related Stories:
Public records release prompts growing concerns over media card issuance

OhioCCW.org reader-submitted news:

WYTV in Youngstown is reporting that another crime as occurred at a Sparkle Supermarket on the cities West side on Friday April 22. A known "no-guns zone", the West Side Sparkle prominently displays a no concealed weapons sign. This did not stop the criminal from entering the business and committing a strong armed robbery at gun point.

Some may remember the other "gun free" Sparkle, also in Youngstown (Cornersburg), where the worker was assaulted while making a night deposit.

It is also worth noting that WYTV is also a criminal protection zone as well and did not report in either story that those businesses did not allow shoppers or workers their civil rights to protect themselves.

----- Original Message -----
From: (Name redacted at writer's request)
To: OFCC
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005
Subject: Parking Lot Ban
Dear Ohioans For Concealed Carry,

On 4-21-05 my wife had to go to the Riverside Hospital in Columbus, Ohio for a very serious spinal cord operation. The surgery was set for us to be at the hospital at 5:30AM that morning. It takes us around 45 minutes to drive to the hospital, so I woke up at 3:30 that morning and left the home at around 4:15AM, just to make sure we would make it on time.

Well...I got to the hospital and here was signs posted at the entrance and every single parking lot saying NO WEAPONS. I am a CHL-holder, and I had my gun with me. I sort of expected not to be allowed to carry it inside the hospital, but figured there would be no problem with leaving it out in my car.

As a result of this discriminatory policy, I had no choice what-so-ever but to drop my wife off and drive all the way back home to leave my gun, and then drive all the way back up to the hospital, leaving my wife all by herself in her great time of need (she was really nervous about having this surgery).

I looked over every piece of paper that she was given and the hospital even called our home a few days before the surgery to go over all her medical history, etc. and told us where to park and enter the building. Not one piece of paper that I read said NO WEAPONS and when they talked to my wife over the telephone no one said NO WEAPONS allowed or anything!

It is one thing to ban parking lots like malls to where you can just leave and go somewhere else but I feel that it is a whole different ball game when they ban a parking lot of a hospital. I believe it should be on the hospital's paper work saying that weapons are not permitted anywhere on hospital property and should really say NO WEAPONS in all their ads, like in the telephone book, etc.

Some people drive 1000 miles to visit family, and have guns with them for protection. What are they to do? What would a mother with a CHL do if on her way home from she gets a call from the hospital saying that their child has been in a very serious accident and they need to get to the hospital in order to sign a consent form in order for their child to receive treatment? This policy would mean they should go home first or park far away from the hospital, wasting precious time while her child suffers. No one ever knows when they will need to be forced to go to a hospital.

If these hospitals really cared about peoples lives they would not put these signs up banning guns on their parking lot, because examples like the two above happen every day and all day long at hospitals, and anyone who has been around an ER room knows this to be true.

My wife is going to have to stay in the hospital probably for at least one week or longer, and this makes me very nervous to drive up to visit her since I cannot have my gun in the car on the way to the hospital and have to drive through some very bad parts of Columbus. If I would get a flat tire or break down, the responsibility for my exposure to the possibility of being made a victim lies totally on Riverside Hospital.

This is very, very wrong that a person can not even have or leave a gun in their own car. I thought that doctors took an oath to save lives. By not even letting their patients have a gun in their car, they are breaking this oath.

In Lawrence County, when a wanted man was discovered breaking into a private vehicle, the Ironton Tribune reports that the owner of the car made a "citizen's arrest", holding the man until police arrived. Despite what many would consider to have been heroic act to keep a criminal off the streets, the newspaper reports Sheriff Tim Sexton is displeased.

From the story:

A West Virginia man was arraigned Friday on charges stemming from what the victim refers to as a "citizens arrest" and what Lawrence County Sheriff Tim Sexton contends was an ill-advised citizen detention.

Donald Porter Jr., 29, of Guyandotte, W.Va., remained in the Lawrence County Jail Monday under a $3,000 cash bond on misdemeanor charges of theft and criminal trespassing. He was arrested by sheriff's deputies in the early morning hours of April 2 outside a Burlington residence.

According to the sheriff's office report, the homeowners had heard a noise and determined from their security cameras that someone was in their vehicle parked outside their house. The male homeowner allegedly caught and detained Porter until deputies arrived.

"I restrained the subject with wire ties," the victim wrote in his report. "I telephoned a neighbor... who provided back up (until deputies arrived)."

The newspaper goes on to state that Porter was supposed to have been arraigned in municipal court April 11 but failed to show up. When deputies arrived and took custody of Porter from the victim, he taken to jail and later released on bond! The Tribune states that later, authorities realized he was not entitled to bond since he was also wanted on other charges in West Virginia. Porter was later apprehended a second time and the newspaper reports that he remains in the Lawrence County Jail.

Again, from the story.

Sexton said while the idea of apprehending the person who is committing a crime against you may sound satisfying, it can be dangerous.

"I don't suggest that people go out and confront people breaking into their homes," Sexton said. "Fortunately, this incident ended with no one hurt. My suggestion is that anytime an incident occurs, people call the sheriff's office. We just don't recommend you go out and confront people."

Meanwhile, in Fairfield County, three boys are being called heroes after reporting a criminal's description and whereabouts, and because they aided deputies in searching fields near their neighborhood for evidence a burglar left behind.

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

WCPO.com is reporting that a domestic disturbance resulting in gunfire and a high-speed chase last weekend in the Dayton area.

Police say the men, Delbert Hopkins, 51, and David Stamper, 45, who both live on Highview Drive, met at Mulberry Square in Miami Township to fight over a girlfriend around 10 p.m. Thursday.

During the fight, Hopkins pulled out a gun and fired a shot at Stamper but missed, say police.

That's when Hopkins and his girlfriend, Beverly Weir, jumped into Hopkins' truck and drove off. Stamper started chasing them and called police, who say Hopkins tried to ram Stamper's vehicle at least twice.

Topping speed of 100 miles per hour, police say they caught up to both trucks on northbound I-275 near Wards Corner Road.

Hopkins then apparently rammed a cruiser driven by a Miami Township officer two times, and tried to ram another cruiser but failed.
Police say Hopkins eventually stopped at Loveland-Madeira Road and was taken into custody at gunpoint.

The news station reports that Hopkins, who was charged with felonious assault on a police officer, attempted felonious assault on a police officer, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, handling weapons under a disability, and inducing panic, was still in jail Friday night.

Stamper, WCPO reporrts, is charged with aggravated menacing, resulting from an accusation that he went to Hopkins house earlier Thursday night to pick a fight over the girlfriend.

"We're very fortunate that no one was injured after they put a number of people at risk, not only the officers who responded," Detective John Swing of Miami Township Police told WCPO.

This story provides an excellent example of how fights are escalating into shootouts on our streets in the wake of Ohio's passage of concealed carry legislation.

Of course, neither of the persons involved had Ohio Concealed Handgun Licenses... And of course WCPO failed to make the observation.