by Chad D. Baus

WHIO (CBS Dayton) is reporting that "churches across the country and here in the Miami Valley are responding to violence by putting their trust in God and taking security into their own hands."

From the article:

At Phillips Temple in Trotwood, armed security guards routinely patrol the church grounds and stand watch inside during services and events. It is a visible presence that Pastor James Washington considers a necessary deterrent from evil.

"The Bible calls it lawlessness. It's just a complete disregard for what's right and wrong and what's legal and what's not," said Washington.

Police cruisers surrounded an Ashtabula, Ohio church on Easter Sunday after a man walked in with a handgun and fatally shot his own father. There were 135 deadly force incidents at places of worship across the country in 2012. Four people have died in 11 shooting incidents so far this year.

"Let's get people trained and certified so that if we have a serious incident here, we can respond immediately," said Mark Stusek, a church security consultant.

Stusek, aretired Dayton Police Officer, founded Glory-2-God Solutions, designing special classes for pastors and church leaders.The students not only qualify for their concealed carry licenses, but they become Certified Security Officers trained on how and when to engage an active shooter.

Jon Faulkner of Beavercreek said, "People are trying to evaluate circumstances they find themselves day in and day out at work, church, even their home, the mall and trying to figure out if something went wrong, what would I do?"

Toby Hoover, who often appears to be a one-woman show at the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, is quoted as saying that having trained, armed church-goers provides nothing but "a false sense of security." (Unfortunately, the reporter who recorded the quote apparently failed to ask Hoover if she thought it was a "false sense of security" that saved potentially hundreds of lives at New Life Church in Colorado.)

This isn't Hoover's first such attempt to insert herself into discussions over the measures places of worship should take to protect their members.

by Jeff Knox

The state of Illinois is the only state in the union that does not offer provisions for regular citizens – those who are not law enforcement or security guards – to carry a gun in public.

Last December, the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled that the ban is unconstitutional and gave the state 180 days to come up with an acceptable framework for citizen carry. Now, if the legislature and governor do not implement a plan June 8 of this year, the laws banning carry will simply become null and void effectively giving the state "Constitutional Carry," i.e. unregulated carrying such as currently exists in Vermont, Alaska, and Arizona. Chances of that happening are slim, however the journey from the current prohibition to the final system promises to be an interesting journey.

Illinois citizens have been fighting for years for the right to carry legally. Several times in the past few years have come close, but each time it has been shot down by the Chicago-Cook County political gangsters. So the citizens in "downstate" Illinois – everywhere outside of the Chicago area – which is mostly stereotypical small town, middle-America, have been held hostage by the powers that be in the state’s urban center.

In order to get at least some form of lawful defensive carry available to regular citizens, rights advocates in Illinois have worked diligently building coalitions, making concessions, and agreeing to all manner of strict limitations, exorbitant fees, and overbearing government control over a concealed carry licensing system. Their hope was that once any form of concealed carry was authorized, citizens, police, and politicians would see that legally armed citizens were a benefit, not a risk – just as has been proven in the other 49 states – and possibly the law could then be improved. That approach made sense when Chicago held all the cards, but times have changed. With the 7th Circuit’s decision, Illinois rights advocates are now in total control – or at least they should be.

Rather than taking advantage of the dramatic shift in leverage provided by the 7th Circuit's ruling, leaders of the rights movement in the state seem to be stuck in the rut they've carved over the past 50 years. They have continued trying to curry favor with police groups and skeptical politicians, even though there is no advantage in doing so. In fact, the demands of the leading rights organizations in the state have barely shifted since the 7th Circuit’s decision was handed down. To their credit, rights supporters have drawn a line in the sand on "shall issue" (which requires authorities to issue a license to anyone who meets the statutory requirements) versus "may issue" (which gives local law enforcement discretion to deny a license for almost any reason – or no reason at all), but they continue to agree to excessive fees, extensive – and expensive – training requirements, intrusive and redundant background checks, and dangerous requirements such as a duty to alert police to one's lawfully concealed firearm.

This last item is particularly troublesome for gun owners living in the Chicago area where the Chief of Police has declared that his officers will treat any armed person as a serious threat until the person can prove otherwise. That means the police are likely to draw their guns, put the person face-down on the ground, frisk, handcuff, and detain them until they can find and verify the person's carry permit – even when the only clue the police have that the person has a gun is that person's obligatory statement to them that they are legally carrying.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Senator Jim Hughes (R-Columbus) today announced new legislation aimed at reducing the number of gun crimes in the state of Ohio. They were joined by Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O'Brien, whose office has aggressively targeted violent gun crimes.

"During my first year in office as Ohio's Attorney General, it became shockingly clear that too many people were losing their lives to gun violence," said Attorney General DeWine. "We don't want to take guns away from law abiding citizens; instead we want to take the violent offenders away from the guns."

The Violent Career Criminal Act would change current gun specification sentencing laws and increase some penalties for offenders with two or more violent felony convictions.

"This legislation is designed to go after the worst of the worst and take offenders off the streets who prey on women, children, and societies most vulnerable," said Senator Hughes.

"Most of the violent crime that we see in Franklin County involves guns," said Franklin County Prosecutor O'Brien. "If we target those committing gun crimes, especially the violent career criminals, I believe we can both prevent and reduce crime."

Attorney General DeWine formed the Violent Crimes with Guns Advisory Group in 2011 to study the problem of gun violence in Ohio and provide guidance to law enforcement and the legislature on how to best prevent gun crimes.

The group commissioned Ohio State University researcher Deanna Wilkinson, Ph.D., to conduct an in-depth study of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and BCI data from 1974 to 2010. The study found that people with two or more violent felony offenses, who make up only .91% of Ohio's adult population, are responsible for 57% of Ohio's violent felony convictions.

COLUMBUS, OH – For the opening day of Ohio's 2013 spring wild turkey season, hunters harvested 2,762 wild turkeys, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). The 2013 opening day total is a 24 percent increase from the 2012 opening day tally when 2,227 turkeys were killed.

This year, Ashtabula County had the most checked wild turkeys of the opening day with 114 turkeys. Ashtabula County also had the largest number of turkeys harvested during the 2012 opening day.

Ohio's spring turkey season began Monday, April 22, and closes Sunday, May 19. The spring turkey season is open statewide except for Lake La Su An Wildlife Area in Williams County. Find more information in the 2012-2013 Ohio Hunting and Trapping Regulations, available where licenses are sold, and at www.wildohio.com.

The ODNR Division of Wildlife estimates that more than 70,000 people will hunt turkeys during the four-week season. Legal hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until noon from April 22 to May 5. Hunting hours May 6-19 will be one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Ohio's wild turkey population was estimated at 180,000 prior to the start of the spring season.

by Larry S. Moore

I received my annual copy of the Fraternal Order of Police fund-raising letter asking for my support. I've been ignoring these letters for close to twenty years now. I was about to unceremoniously deposit this one into File 13 when I thought maybe I should read it this time. My wife shook her head, noting that my political blood pressure doesn't need any help from the FOP.

The FOP has fought all our legislation for the rights of gun owners, concealed carry and self-defense in Ohio. Some referenced articles from 2003 and 2008 are included below. The FOP is now suggesting that House Bill 8, a placeholder bill that will eventually contain language designed to improve school safety, should instead be used to strip local school boards of the ability to authorize school employees and citizens to carry firearms on school property. It's all about making our schools totally dependent on the FOP members who, far too often, only get to the crime scene after the shooting is over. For more information on this move, see "State FOP proposes stripping ability of boards of education to arm school employees."

So I read the FOP letter to see what else they are doing for "our safety." I didn't have to read very far. The first major bullet point states (in bold), "But police officers don't do their jobs to win accolades -- we do it because everyone is a potential victim." I certainly agree with both sides of this statement. Over many pieces of legislation, I've never heard the FOP submit testimony saying we should be allowed concealed carry to protect ourselves "because everyone is a potential victim." If the FOP really believes this statement, then the FOP should be supporting concealed carry, arming school personnel and promoting self-defense throughout Ohio. Sadly they do not.

by Chris Cox

While both sides in the gun control debate regroup after our victory in the Senate earlier this week, I want to give credit where credit is due. The credit for [last] Wednesday's defeat of gun control goes to the countless gun owners and other Americans who drew a line in the sand—who sent emails and letters and made phone calls to their U.S. senators, urging them to protect private firearm transfers, semi-automatic firearms, and the magazines that millions of Americans own for self-defense.

There is no question that you shocked the enemies of liberty [last week]. Going into Wednesday's votes, they thought victory was within reach. Many in the media had pushed the idea that resistance to the gun control agenda was futile, and some of our more aggressive adversaries may have started to believe their own propaganda. I'm sure some had convinced themselves that the intensity of their anger toward gun owners was all that was necessary to assure victory.

But you and your fellow gun owners proved them wrong. As you know, the best Americans do what they have to do, not for personal praise, but because it's the right thing to do. They do what has to be done not only for themselves, but for their fellow Americans today and for generations of Americans to come. Nevertheless, on behalf of all of us at NRA headquarters, I want to thank you for answering the call.

As you know, however, we can take only measured comfort from [last] week's success. In his bitter response to the Senate's votes, President Obama said that this fight is far from over, and that's the one thing that he is right about.

by Chad D. Baus

News of the (failed) push to pass gun control legislation in the U.S. Senate, as well as the terror attack on Boston, dominated the media last week for good reason. But here in Ohio, a series of events that might otherwise have received wider news coverage went virtually unnoticed.

Saturday, April 13

Toledo Police say a homeowner shot and killed a man who was attempting to break into his home.

From WTVG (ABC Toledo):

Residents in the 4500 block of Douglas woke up to a scary scene on Saturday as police investigated the death of 24-year-old Lucas Hassen.

Police say around 1 a.m. Saturday morning a homeowner woke to the sound of his side door being kicked in. Officers say 45-year-old Bryan Loyer grabbed his gun and alerted the suspect that he was armed.

Loyer told police the suspect continued kicking in the door and that's when shots were fired.

The suspect fled and was found unresponsive two houses away in Joan Rutherford's backyard.

Saturday marked the 14-year anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, that claimed the lives of 12 students and one teacher. This weekend, half a dozen Allen County teachers gathered at Perry High School for the first-ever armed teachers and school staff training program.

From WLIO (NBC Lima):

by Chad D. Baus

Despite the fact that all the gun control laws in Connecticut (or New York or Colorado) and all the "no-guns" signs in schools and all the "security" measures being put into place to bring schools up to at least the level that Sandy Hook Elementary was when it was attacked will do nothing to stop the next attack on one of our schools, too many people who should know better are busy trying to convince themselves, and parents, that our kids are safe.

Now that America knows that two brothers from Chechnya, a region controlled by Muslims in the southern Russia, were behind the Boston Marathon bombing, and now that there are reports that the FBI is hunting a 12-strong terrorist "sleeper cell" linked to the Boston marathon bomb terrorists, it is high time that Americans learn about a terror attack that advocates for protecting our kids in schools have been talking about for some time: The Terror at Beslan.

In 2004, Chechen rebels staged an attack on a school in North Ossetia, Russia. After more than three days of rape and murder, more than 350 people died - half of them children.

Anyone who thinks this isn't already being planned to happen here is in denial.

From a review of a seminar sponsored by Buckeye Firearms Association in 2011, given by John Giduck, author of the book Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools:

by Thomas Lucente

And so it begins.

The gun grab.

Liberal politicians keep telling us they don’t want to take away our guns.

"I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away," President Barack Obama has said.

"There's no way Uncle Sam can go find out whether you have a gun," Vice President Joe Biden said.

Tell that to David Lewis, 35, of Erie County, New York.

On April 1, Lewis received a letter from the New York State Police demanding he turn in his guns or police officers would show up at his door to take them from him.