The Toledo Free Press is reporting that although a man with a temporary emergency concealed handgun license was not charged with a crime, police have seen fit to confiscate and hold his handgun (despite an Ohio law which suggests such action by the Toledo police officers was illegal).

From the story:

A North Toledo man said threats on his life and high levels of gang activity in his Lagrange Street neighborhood have prompted him to begin
carrying a gun.

But tensions between residents and local youth might have finally boiled over. Thomas Szych, of 532 Bronson Ave., had his firearm seized by police on Aug. 3 after a call to 911 reported a man with a gun in the alley between Bronson and Dexter streets. According to police, Szych was videotaping his next-door neighbors cleaning up garbage in the alley when he brandished his gun in front of an 11-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy.

“We questioned both of the boys individually, and they both described the gun in their little unique ways,” Toledo Police Sergeant Joe Heffernan said. “It seems pretty evident to me that both those boys saw his gun. They both gave a pretty accurate description of it in their own words.”

While Szych admits to having a gun with him, he denies ever leaving his front porch or taking the gun out of its holster attached to his belt under his shirt.

According to the story, there has been a recent outbreak of gang related activity in Mr. Szych's area. Sgt. Heffernan told the City Paper there have been more than a dozen officers at Szych’s house in the two weeks due to gang-related concerns in the neighborhood, and that city crews have had to come out and paint over a lot of gang graffiti. Mr. Szych is thus concerned about the police disarming him, because those gang members now know he has no protection.

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By Larry S. Moore

The final Grand American Trapshoot was held last week in Vandalia, Ohio. The expansion of the Dayton International Airport is the usual reason given for the event being forced out of Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) home grounds. The ATA will maintain offices and the Hall of Fame building in Vandalia.

The Grand American was brought to Dayton to have a permanent home in 1924 by prominent civic and business leaders such as Charles Patterson (NCR Corp) and Charles Kettering (Delco). Following the devastating 1913 flood in Dayton, Patterson arranged to have the Grand held at the NCR shooting grounds to showcase the recovery of Dayton to the world.

My how things have changed between 1924 and the 1990s when the Dayton Airport expansion began threatening the grounds. Unlike civic leaders of the past, today’s leaders and politicians either encouraged the take over of the grounds or at best ignored the situation. Then Ohio Governor George Voinovich and Lt. Gov. Mike DeWine did virtually nothing to respond to the ATA request for proposals during a search for a new home for the ATA and the Grand American. The few proposals that Ohio did put forth were late in the process and, quite frankly, did not match the requirements specified by the ATA. One cannot blame outsourcing, contract disputes, NAFTA or Washington DC for this. We only have to look to the anti-gun leadership of the City of Dayton and to the attitudes of George Voinovich and Mike DeWine.

This is no small shooting event. The Grand American, in normal years, attracts between 4500 and 5000 shooters. It is the world championships of trap shooting. Teams and individuals travel from Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and all points between to compete here. It was truly an international event in Ohio. The Grand American Trap Shoot is normally listed as the third largest participant sporting event behind the New York and Boston marathons.

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