Representatives from Ohioans For Concealed Carry and OFCC PAC were on hand today at the Statehouse, as HB12 received it's second hearing in the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.

A short summary of the hearing follows.

One representative each from the National Rifle Association and Ohioans For Concealed Carry testified, and answered questions before the committee.

An NRA spokesperson testified (consider all comments as paraphrased, not direct quotes!) that the 12 hours of training required under HB12 is "aggressive", and that no more is needed. The representative said NRA can support HB12 with 12 hours of training. The spokesperson also reminded Senators that the current law has been ruled unconstitutional.

In a welcome move, the NRA offered testimony on their position that the Ohio Highway Patrol's idea to ban CCW in cars would gut the bill.

Finally, and in response to a question about Ohio's affirmative defenses, the NRA spokesperson stated that the affirmative defenses are important, and should remain.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has printed an excellent opinion editorial from author John Lott. Minnesota is one of the four states that have passed right-to-carry legislation already this year, in the face of hysterical ranting from gun-control extremists.

It doesn't speak of Ohio, but Lott's piece addresses the fact that the nationwide successes of concealed carry reform has stretched these extremists' credibility to the breaking point. And that fact certainly has implications for our state.

Click here for the full op. ed. in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Tuesday is Election Day. There is more to protecting your rights than just state-wide elections. Many counties have spending issues, revenue issues and races for local elected officials at stake.

Need to know where to go vote? Not sure if you're registered? Only your county board of elections has information regarding the location of your polling place and your voter registration status. You must call your county board of elections, or or go online to your board of election's website.

The U.S. Senate will finally vote on the nomination of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Deborah Cook to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

Ms. Cook's approval for that post will leave vacant a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. Governor Bob Taft is constitutionally authorized to name a replacement.

Will Taft use a litmus test for his nominee? Will he dare overturn the publicly elected balance of power of constitutionalists back to a liberal, activist Court?

Click here
to read the entire story from the Ohio News Network.

The scene is all too familiar:

• A concealed carry reform bill with overwhelming support in the Ohio legislature.
• A gaggle of law-enforcement bureaucrats who oppose Ohioans' right to self-defense.
• A Republican governor who traded his support for self-defense rights in his state, to earn a police labor union's endorsement in future political aspirations.

The year was 1995, and the governor was George Voinovich.

Will history repeat itself in the 125th General Assembly, at the demand of Bob Taft? Senate President Doug White says no.

Last week, a Gongwer News Service headline screamed: "WHITE SAYS CHAMBER WON'T LOOK TO TAFT FOR GUIDANCE ON GUN BILL"

Things look good for HB12 in the Senate. But they looked good in 1995 too. Click here to read the entire story on the 1995 failure to enact concealed carry reform in Ohio.

The fight is not over, and we must not let up!

The fight to restore Ohioans' right to self-defense with a firearm has been going on longer than many realize. The following is taken from testimony offered by Clayton Cramer (www.claytoncramer.com) to the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee, in support of a concealed carry bill, on March 22, 1995.

Mr. Cramer's research on the origins of concealed carry bans are striking, and are something that every Ohioan, especially those who are minorities, should consider.

Summary: Concealed handgun license laws, outside of the formerly slave states, are a relatively recent phenomenon. The available evidence strongly suggests that racism has been the principal engine driving the development of these laws, until quite recently.

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

House Bill 12 has been added to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal
Justice's agenda for proponent testimony only on May 7 at 9:00 a.m. in the North Hearing Room, Second Floor, Senate Building.

UPDATE! Senator Austria's office has offered additional clarification on the purpose for Wednesday's 1st proponent hearing for HB12. This first proponent hearing, the Chairman is asking to hear mainly from official representatives of organizations whose members support this legislation. Thus, individuals wishing to offer testimony on their own behalf will be encouraged to testify in a week or two. OFCC PAC will, of course, notify you when that hearing occurs.

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

An article covering Senate action on HB12 has been filed by Jim Siegel for the Gannett News Service today, and will be appearing in multiple central Ohio newspapers over the next 72 hours.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce (normally known as a more conservative, pro-business lobbying group) is towing a Million Mom March line by inferring that CCW at work would create an OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) concern.

Perhaps they should talk with their sister organizations in 35 other states, where businesses report NO problems with CCW. Or perhaps they should check with OSHA, as we did! Jeff Lewis, Safety and Occupational Health Manager, of Region 6 of OSHA, has told Ohioans For Concealed Carry that OSHA has no policy or the authority to regulate firearms in the workplace. Should an employer choose to allow firearms in the workplace, Lewis says, he would be under no violation of any OSHA regulation or guideline.

The most striking part of the piece is that, after nearly four months of debate, four different hearings and a vote on the House floor, the Fraternal Order of Police labor union has finally decided to voice their concerns with HB12.

For more on how the FOP fought to destroy HB274, click here.

For more about the Ohio Chamber of Commerce's collaboration with the Million Mom March to fight HB12, click here.

To read the Gannett News article in it's entirety, click here for the Zanesville Times-Recorder.

Or here for the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum.

Or here for the Newark Advocate.

You'd think it was another case of SARS.

We've been warning for two months that anti-self-defense extremists were testing a new spin in their fight against concealed carry reform, by claiming that "companies in virtually every industry will be adversely affected if a concealed carry weapons bill passes in Ohio".

Ohio's liberally-dominated media outlets (such as the Youngstown Vindicator, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer) sprang to action to promote the spin, by reprinting a letter to the editor promoting these assertions over, and over, and over. Crain's Cleveland Business even went so far as to adopt language from this uninformed letter to the editor into an anti-self-defense editorial, and sign their name to it.

Now, the Dayton Daily News has joined the chorus, whining on behalf of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, who is officially "uneasy", according to Chamber lobbyist Dan Navin.

According to Mr. Navin, many businesses are concerned about incidents of workplace violence with ready access to loaded firearms in cars and trucks in company lots.

What the Ohio Chamber of Commerce does NOT reveal in this article is that they are also aware that there are many other Ohio businesses who desperately WANT concealed carry reform to pass.

Time and again, we read quotes by Ohio Highway Patrol bureaucrats, claiming that concealed carry reform would put their officers in danger. But as this tragic shooting in Youngstown illustrates, Ohio's officers are already in danger from guns in criminal's cars.

The truth is, research proves concealed carry reform laws, which puts firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens, make police safer.

Prof. David Mustard of the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business found that right-to-carry laws reduced the rate that officers were killed by about 2 percent per year for each additional year the laws were in effect.

If Ohio's law enforcement bureaucrats & Bob Taft truly cared about promoting front-line officer safety, they would drop their silly opposition to this legislation, and stand up to tell the truth: Ohio's rank-and-file cops support, and truly need, this life-saving legislation.