By Chad D. Baus

Before the media access loophole was inserted into Ohio's Concealed Handgun License law by Governor Taft as an 11th hour poison pill, legislators in Ohio were warned that newspapers would abuse the law and publish entire lists of concealed handgun license-holders. They were also warned that such lists could then be exploited by criminals wishing to steal firearms, and that instances of criminals targeting particular locations they know to contain specific valuables (such as firearms), and staking out or casing residences to make sure no one is home, are common and well documented. But few listened...

The Akron Beacon Journal called this warning a "flimsy presumption", and Gannett News Columbus Bureau Chief Jim Siegel said warnings about the dangers of publishing the list of CHL-holders "elevate these criminals to a level of sophistication they very likely do not possess..." Even then-Attorney General Jim Petro called such a scenario "a stretch".

Since those comments were made in 2004, we have pointed to multiple examples (see links at the conclusion of this story) proving that criminals DO have this level of sophistication, the anti-gun media are still arguing the exact opposite as they seek to avoid sound reasons for which lists of CHL-holders should not be published en masse.

March 29, 2007
Townhall.com

By Ken Blackwell

On March 9, a good thing happened for people living in the central and inner cities of America: the DC gun ban was declared unconstitutional. The blanket ban on all operational firearms - and every handgun even if that gun doesn't work - was struck down as unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. As a guy who lived in the projects, served as mayor of Cincinnati, and who serves as a member of the National Rifle Association's urban affairs committee, I say, "Three cheers for justice."

Many cities have bad gun laws, and the worst is the DC gun ban. Under the ban, you cannot have any handgun, even in your own home. What's worse, you can't even have a shotgun or rifle, unless it's locked away (unloaded) or disabled with something like a trigger lock. The end result is the same; you cannot have a functional firearm handy in your house. If something happens in the darkness of night, you cannot have a usable firearm to defend your house, your children, or even your own life. That's the outrage of laws like the DC gun ban.

Gun control laws hurt law-abiding people because they're the only ones who obey those laws. Criminals, by definition, don't obey the law. When you pass broad gun control laws criminals still get guns. What's worse, when you ban guns, the criminals know their intended victims are almost certainly unable to fight back.

And, what types of citizens are disadvantaged the most by these laws: low income families and poor people living in our inner cities. Many of my fellow African-Americans, Latinos, and other racial minorities are burdened under such laws. If some thug tries to pull a gun or bust through a door, there's little decent people can do to protect themselves.

Every man has the right, and the duty, to put his life on the line to defend his wife or mother or child. A single mother of any race shouldn't have to worry about protecting her little girl. A grandfather, regardless of where he lives, shouldn't fear for his grandson's safety when they go to bed. Women, the elderly and the disabled are the ones left most vulnerable by gun control laws. The inner city is full of them.

Gun control laws like the DC gun ban leave these good people defenseless. That is not what the Founders intended.

Click here for the entire op-ed from former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell at Townhall.com.