The following stories 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, as far as anyone can tell, none of the persons involved had Ohio Concealed Handgun Licenses... And of course in each course, where applicable, the news media failed to make that observation.

AZ: Twisted coverage and myths shot down 'guns-in-bars' bill
Why on Earth would the National Rifle Association promote laws so "gun-toting" people could "pack heat" in bars and not drink?

Say what? That doesn't even make sense. It's beyond stupid. And in fact, the NRA promoted no such thing.

But you wouldn't know it from reading the papers or following newscasts.

The inaccurately characterized "guns-in-bars" bill received twisted coverage, using derision and phony Wild West mythology, from reporters and editors who earned rebuke for such unethical spin.

While reporters cried wolf and instilled fear in a public they misinformed, 70,000 FBI-certified Arizonans, licensed to discreetly carry firearms, just hoped they would finally be allowed to eat meals in normal restaurants without leaving their guns in their cars as current law requires.

They know it's a bad law that leaves them defenseless. They know criminals routinely steal guns from cars.

Rather than deal with important issues - self-defense and civil rights - on the merits, reporters deceived you, and wrote in a gun-o-phobic way that cries out, literally, for medical attention. Editors who allowed frequent demeaning slurs deserve reprimands.

Dignified treatment? The news foisted silliness about shotguns in nightclubs. This was really the Breakfast-at-Denny's bill, because Denny's has a liquor license. It was lunch at Applebee's, with no drinking allowed. But newspeople didn't want you to understand that, because if you did, you might support it, as 34 other states do, without problems. The media instead fed you hokum... (click the headline to read the entire story.

WI: Confusion surrounds federal gun law
Former sheriff's deputy Matt Del Fatti considers himself one of the lucky retired law enforcement officers in Wisconsin.

His old employer, the Clark County Sheriff's Department in western Wisconsin, has decided to issue him an identification and let him train to carry a concealed weapon under a new federal law.

"I spent a career in law enforcement and that doesn't just go away after you retire," said Del Fatti, 53, of Greenwood, who retired in 2002 after 28 years on the force.

"The ability to take action if it's necessary stays with you."

Dozens of other Wisconsin police agencies have so far balked at implementing the law, which allows qualified retired police officers and sheriff's deputies to carry firearms even in states such as Wisconsin that have concealed carry bans.

The agencies say they do not want to be held liable for potentially deadly incidents involving their former workers.

The result is a disparate situation in which Del Fatti and retirees who worked at certain agencies can take advantage of the federal law, while many of their counterparts across the state cannot.

Meanwhile, retirees from other states can carry their weapons while in Wisconsin.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that a Cleveland store owner was gunned down Monday night in what police believe was a robbery at Tony's Deli on West 47th Street. Police told reporters that Antonios "Tony" Elbkessini, 48, of Cleveland, appeared to have been shot inside the small corner store but died outside on the sidewalk.

From the story:

Neighbors saw two men running west from the store on Fenwick Avenue toward train tracks just after the shooting. Police picked up two men and brought them back to the scene for questioning.

Neighbors heard the shots about 8:15 p.m., just before the store's usual 8:30 closing time. Police received a telephone call at 8:16 that a man was lying on the sidewalk bleeding from the ear.

Elbkessini had owned the store since 1994.

Shocked neighbors gathered around the store Monday.

"He was a very giving man," said Michele Russell, 36. "He would do anything for anybody."

People called Tony's the "Turquoise Store" because of its blue-green color. It sits in a modest neighborhood surrounded by narrow frame houses just south of Interstate 90. In December, a customer and a clerk died in a robbery at a Tony's Deli on Scranton Road.
Cleveland Councilman Michael Zone left a City Council meeting Monday and rushed to the store when he heard of the killing. Zone said he had been in the store about a dozen times and was saddened by the news.

"He was very friendly to the kids and residents of this community," Zone said. "It is going to be a high loss."

Police Commander Edward Tomba is quoted as saying "it's definitely a robbery gone bad. It doesn't look like anything was taken."

Related Story:
Robbers murder clerk, chase down & kill fleeing witness

The Sandusky Register is reporting on yet another example of how gun control laws are a failure at preventing criminals from obtaining firearms or from harming others.

According to the Register, a 49-year-old Greenwich man is accused of pointing a loaded pistol at the head of a 44-year-old woman Friday at a Greenwich residence, telling the woman he was going to kill her, then pulling the gun away and shooting a cooler.

From the story:

Ronnie G. Freeman, 49, 2600 block of Ohio 13, Greenwich, was charged Monday in Norwalk Municipal Court with felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony, Norwalk Prosecutor Stu O'Hara said.

The incident began with a late Friday night fight between Freeman and the woman, O'Hara said.

Freeman allegedly had been drinking alcohol, O'Hara said.

After the alleged gun threat, Freeman fled the home and took the gun with him, O'Hara said.

Freeman called the woman early Saturday from Mickey Mart in New London.

At the time, Huron County Sheriff's Deputies were talking with the woman, O'Hara said.

New London Police were sent to Mickey Mart and arrested Freeman, O'Hara said.

The gun was not recovered, he added.

The newspaper goes on to observe that Freeman allegedly is under disability -- meaning he's not allowed to possess a gun -- because of a drug trafficking conviction in 1984.

On Saturday, January 29, OFCC President Jeff Garvas announced that OFCC had recently has recently signed on to a petition effort started by the Virginia Citizens Defense League that calls upon the United States Department of the Interior to lift a ban on bearing arms for self-defense in our vast national park system.

“Today, every National Park in the state of Ohio is off-limits to Ohioans and tourists who are lawfully licensed to carry a firearm for self-defense”, Garvas said in January. “Such vast amounts of public property should never prohibit lawful citizens from defending their lives in a place where counting on law-enforcement to find you quickly, let alone defend your life, is wishful thinking.”

VCDL has published an update on this effort. Please read here the update and take action!