Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to report that an Erie County concealed handgun license (CHL) -holder recently had all pending felony charges against him dismissed by the Prosecutor. In order to protect this innocent man’s identity, he will not be identified by name, and identifiable items will be deleted from this story. We will simply refer to this person as Publius.

Publius is an Ohio CHL living in or near Erie County. Sometime last year, Publius was the victim of a “man with a gun” phone call to the police. Publius was sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of his wife’s store when a passerby noticed the handgun in the car. At no point did the passerby observe or report any suspicious activity, and the nature of the call to the police was simply “man with a gun.” No allegations of panic, criminal behavior or other nefarious acts.

The police responded and saw Publius’ vehicle outside the store. Publius then, having picked up his wife from work, pulled out and headed home. The police pulled in behind Publius and ran his license plate, which came back to a valid CHL matching Publius’ physical description. All of this is undisputed.

The police then conducted a full felony stop on Publius’ vehicle, after they knew he was a valid CHL.

By Chad D. Baus

Just over two weeks ago, Buckeye Firearms Assocation was contacted by Ohio concealed handgun license (CHL)-holder Bryan Ledford with an ominous message:

Another law-abiding Ohioan who was exercising his legal and Constitutional right to openly carry a handgun had been apprehended by police officers with guns drawn.

Mr. Ledford had already published his account on an Internet discussion forum at OpenCarry.org, and Ohioans For Concealed Carry, of which he is a member, set about to obtain an apology on his behalf.

Mr. Ledford's detainment by the Willowick, OH police department was far from a first. Indeed, just a few short months ago the Columbus Dispatch published an article detailing plight of Philip Turner, who suffered a similar experience. Similar incidents have been document by this website and others.

What should have brought Mr. Ledford's experience to the attention of every police chief (and news director) in Ohio was the fact that he had made a tape of the entire incident, and had caught these ignorant, abusive police officers red-handed.