In the span of time it took for it to be revealed that Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucrats improperly used $41,000 of tax money to buy an antique car, and that action was necessary to suspend or fire no less than TEN troopers for violations of various laws and policies, ZERO troopers were killed by law-abiding citizens with concealed firearms.

In recent weeks, we've told you about:

Trooper DeLong: Slept while on duty guarding Statehouse, failed to qualify with her firearm, now under investigation for use of excessive force in minor traffic stop

Trooper Burd: Fired from his job for conduct unbecoming an officer (bar fight)

Trooper Sullivan: Fired for untruthfulness and conduct unbecoming an officer

NEW this week:

The Dayton Daily News has published a group of letters concerning concealed carry reform, both pro and con, in the Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Click on the "Read More... link below for exerpts and a link to the DDN letters page.

By Laura A. Bischoff
lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS | State Sen. Jeff Jacobson is in a strong position to become Senate president in January 2005, with the next legislative session, three well-placed Republican sources said.

Jacobson, R-Butler Twp., is up against state Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, for the presidency, one of the most powerful elected positions in state government. The Senate president has the ability to block legislation, craft policy and shape the state budget.

Current President Doug White, R-Manchester, will hold the post through 2004.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Saturday, July 19, 2003
By Jon Craig
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

State Highway Patrol officers dodged legislative scrutiny when they bought a 1938 Ford Cabriolet two years ago for display at their training academy, a newly reported investigation found.

Buying the rare convertible with $41,000 in drug-forfeiture money did not violate Ohio's purchasing laws, Inspector General Thomas P. Charles said. "Nonetheless, in our view, these actions appear contrary to the intent of these laws,'' he said.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

The election of the speaker of the Ohio House is 17 months away, but several state legislators have already begun meeting with fellow Republican House members seeking their support for a run at the seat. Each of the potential speaker candidates who have stepped forward thus far are 2002 OFCC PAC Endorsees.

Current Speaker Larry Householder cannot run for re-election next year because of the state's term limits law, leaving the seat vacant beginning January 2005.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

A federal judge threw out the NAACP's case against the gun industry yesterday, despite finding that the manufacturers have put the public at risk with careless marketing practices.

Affirming a jury verdict in favor of the gun makers, U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein ruled that the NAACP failed to show, as required by law, that its members were uniquely harmed.

A gun industry spokesman, Lawrence Keane, welcomed the outcome.

"It's regrettable that the industry ever had to defend itself against such a frivolous lawsuit," said Keane, general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

He estimated that the manufacturers spent $10 million on their defense.

NAACP lawyer Elisa Barnes called the decision a "moral victory" that could open the way for the city or state to pursue similar lawsuits demanding reforms by firearms manufacturers.

John Renzulli, a lawyer for Browning Arms Co., predicted the ruling would discourage further litigation.

The NAACP "failed twice - once before a jury that said it didn't have a case and once with a judge who said the same thing," Renzulli said.

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The NAACP sued Browning Arms, Smith & Wesson, Glock and other major gun makers in 1999, saying they knew corrupt dealers were supplying products to criminals in black and Hispanic neighborhoods and did nothing to stop it. Rather than asking for monetary damages, the NAACP sought sweeping restrictions on buyers and sellers of handguns.

Weinstein's decision follows a two-month trial that concluded in May with an advisory jury ruling that cleared 45 gun manufacturers and distributors of negligence.

Click here to read the entire story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

07/19/03
Molly Kavanaugh
Plain Dealer Reporter

Oberlin- In a warm second-floor dance studio on the Oberlin College campus, Jen Resnick scampered across the floor, demonstrating how to use a knife for self-defense.

About 300 women from the United States, Canada and elsewhere are attending the four-day camp, which is held at a different college each summer. The students, ranging in age from 6 to their 60s, are both beginners and black-belt holders who come to improve their art and for female fellowship.

The National Women's Martial Arts Federation began in 1976 to give women a safe and supportive place to learn martial arts. The discipline, which includes karate, aikido and many other styles, has long been dominated by men, but it is growing in popularity with women seeking self-defense.

OFCC PAC Commentary:
There is obviously a great deal of interest in self-defense among Ohio women. But are the martial arts the best defense against an attacker?

Julia Cochrane, in a commentary written for A-Human-Right.com, has this to say of the martial arts and self-defense for women:

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

An excellent letter to the editor has been written by a police officer with 25 years of experience, and published in the Columbus Dispatch. Mr. Joseph Wayne wrote in response to an earlier letter from the mother of a person who was injured in the CRWU shooting.

Click here to read the full letter in the Columbus Dispatch, or click on the "Read More..." link below for an archived version.

Check your gun at the gate
07/19/03

The Minnesota legislature recently passed a law allowing most citizens to carry concealed handguns. The law made the state the latest to approve a CCW measure - a proposal which has been unsuccessfully kicked around the Ohio legislature for eight years.

Despite Minnesota's new pro-gun law, the issue appears to remain far from settled there. Last week, University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks said he would ask the state's Board of Regents to prohibit handguns on his campus and in other venues where his school's teams are playing. Critics argue that the university can enforce its gun ban against students and employees, but not visitors to campus. They undoubtedly will test the university in court if Bruininks gets his way.

The overwhelming majority of states that have passed CCW laws have exempted universities and colleges from the places in which guns can be legally carried. That hardly seems an unreasonable limit. Universities, like day-care centers, should be able to set their own polices in regards to weapons on the premises.

Commentary by Chad D. Baus:

Columbus Dispatch
Friday, July 18, 2003
DARREL ROWLAND

This ought to sound a wee bit familiar to anyone who has followed Ohio politics over the past year.

The incumbent governor acknowledges that the state faces severe financial problems but refuses to offer even an estimate of the coming shortfall.

A couple of months before November’s general election, his challenger tosses out a projected deficit that the governor ridicules. Despite criticism that the incumbent is covering up the extent of the state’s budget woes for political reasons, he wins reelection.

Months later, however, the challenger is vindicated when his seemingly radical deficit projection turns out to be on the conservative side. The governor’s approval rating sinks toward a historic low.

And now, more than 1.6 million people — nearly double the total necessary — have signed a petition calling for a recall election.

What, you thought I was still talking about Ohio?

Sorry. I’ve been on vacation, and a couple of weeks reading news accounts in sunny California.

Aside from the substantial difference in the scale of the fiscal problem, the self-inflicted woes faced by California’s Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, and Ohio’s Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, are remarkably similar.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.