Ohio concealed handgun licenses: A decade of saving lives

Today, April 8, 2014, marks the ten year anniversary of concealed handgun licenses in Ohio.

I could not even begin to give an accurate estimate the number of hours that I and my fellow volunteer leaders at Buckeye Firearms Association have put into efforts to get the law passed, and subsequently to get it improved - I am sure it is in the hundreds of thousands.

Every so often, I am reminded why we do it. These reminders come in the form of a typically short news article noting that another license-holder somewhere in the state has successfully used their firearm to defend their own life or the life of someone else. These reports come almost exclusively from reports published by media, so I find it strange to have read quotes from two different law enforcement officers in recent weeks saying that they were unaware of a concealed handgun licensee having used a gun to defend themselves.

Unfortunately, quotes such as these are used by reporters to offset the other statement constantly being repeated these days by law enforcement - that there just haven't been any problems caused by license-holders. This, the enterprising anti-self-defense journalist asserts, proves that while their anti-self-defense rights friends were clearly wrong about the mayhem they predicted would ensue if we passed this law, the pro-self-defense was also wrong, since no one seems to know of any license-holders who have protected themselves.

The problem is, the claim that there have been no cases of license-holders using a gun to defend themselves is entirely, provably false.

Each time we become aware of a self-defense case involving an Ohio concealed handgun licensee, we record the details of the incident on our website. To date we have documented more than 60 cases that have involved concealed handgun licensees protecting themselves or others when attacked. The map at right documents just those cases through the end of 2012.

There is something important to keep in mind as you browse the map. Anti-self-defense rights legislators and journalists are fond of claiming that the debate over concealed carry laws are an example of the divide between rural and urban. They claim that people in the cities don't like concealed carry, while people in rural areas do. This is why they opposed statewide preemption of local gun control laws, claiming that localities should be able to decide for themselves on what gun control is necessary at the local level.

But of course when one looks at the areas where people have successfully been able to defend themselves when attacked, they are almost all occurring in the exact areas where these anti-self-defense rights legislators claim people oppose concealed carry.

As you look at the map, imagine what might have happened to the innocent victims involved in those incidents had the anti-self-defense rights legislators had their way over the past ten years. Imagine how many children might be orphaned, or dead. Imagine how many spouses would be widowed. Imagine how many rapes. Imagine how many funerals. Imagine ... and shudder.

Thankfully, the anti-self-defense rights extremists didn't get their way, and each year, more and more lives are saved, thanks to the efforts of the many who have come before, fighting the daily fight to first recover, and then improve our laws.

The fight to improve our laws continues. There are still too many places in Ohio where the right to bear arms for self-defense is denied. Our self-defense laws still consider people guilty until they prove themselves innocent. There is work to be done. I hope you will join us as we continue the fight into the next decade.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, and BFA PAC Vice Chairman.

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