November 29, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes told central Ohioans how he really feels about the new concealed-carry law passed in January.

In the Nov. 18 Dispatch article "Conceal-carry process clarified", he said: "You got to have a reason to be scared. Otherwise, I’m going to have people filing applications for an emergency permit that really don’t have a reason to have a gun."

I guess only the sheriff’s reasons are acceptable when it comes to owning a firearm. Try these reasons and compare.

First, Karnes must not be aware that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement has no duty to protect individual citizens because a person’s security is his or her own responsibility. Second, the Bill of Rights allows peaceable citizens to keep and bear arms without infringement from the government. Finally, Ohio’s concealed-carry law is "shall-issue" legislation, which means the permit must be issued to anyone who applies and meets the qualifications. Good luck, Franklin County!

Wayne Green
Lancaster

Related Stories:
Sheriff Karnes STILL doesn't understand the law on TELs?

Media coverage of Supreme Court ruling uniform: A WIN for CCW

Ohio Supreme Court Unanimously Affirms OFCC Position on TELs

Wed Nov 17 08:11:49 2004:

I can’t help but comment on what I’m reading about this issue of parks banning guns. If I’m attacked by man or beast while I’m in the park system, would they agree to be responsible/ liable for injury that occurred on their property because I was denied my right of personal protection?

Recently, my wife and I took our dog for a walk in the park, and encountered a small pack of dogs which we had known to be collecting there over the last few days (we walk our dog there every day).

When first spotted, they were about 50 yards away. As we continued to walk, our dog became alarmed, and began barking and acting like something was very wrong. We looked back at the pack, and saw that the Alfa male was trying to slip up behind us.

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I told my wife to keep going, because IF something bad happened, I hoped she would be safer. I looked back again, and the Alfa male (I’m guessing shepherd-lab mix, weighing 50-60 lbs.) was now 50 feet from me, with his head down. He WAS coming after us.

What to do here, and where will the results lead? Because we go there every day, we have the phone number of the park office, and I called them as this dog approached. Their response? “We know about the dogs, we called the warden couple days ago.”

I wasn’t going to wait days for a dog warden – we could have lost life or limb right there and then! I pulled the .22 I am licensed to carry and fired a shot into the ground in front of him, hoping to scare him off. Thank Heaven it worked.

Thanks to having my concealed carry license, nothing bad happened to us. I found my wife and dog in the parking lot, and got to go home and eat lunch with my family, instead of spending the day in the hospital, with a veterinarian, or worse.

Rick

Now that the dust is beginning to settle following the implementation phase of Ohio's new concealed carry law, people are beginning to settle in and examine the new law: Where is it working? Where are improvements needed?

Indeed, as OFCC indicated upon passage of the bill nearly one year ago, there are many aspects which, by diminishing the number of licenses obtained, will lessen the downward pressure on crime, and which must therefore be fixed with future legislation.

In an online poll being conducted by the OFCC PAC, one of the most-frequently identified problems OFCC members and supporters say needs attention is the "open carry in a motor vehicle" mandate.

We will begin to address how to move forward on making such improvements in the coming weeks and months, but when considering this specific problem, it is also important to take a look back at how the language made it into the law in the first place.

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

The Youngstown Vindicator reported last week that when an employee of Larry's Lounge on Hillman Street exited the bar carrying cash, he was surprised to find someone waiting for him.

After being greeted by the employee, the Vindicator says the man pulled a ski mask over his face and lifted an "Uzi-type" gun from under his coat, shouting "This is a holdup!"

The news story goes on to say the employee diverted the would-be robber's attention by saying, "Look over there!" While the masked robber looked away, the employee ran behind a parked car, drew his own gun, and pointed it at the would-be robber, who fled.

The employee, after doing some investigating of his own, identified the suspect for police, who indicated the man has tried to rob others in the parking lot.

The following stories depict robberies of (unarmed) employees by serial criminals elsewhere in Ohio:

Cincinnati Post - November 23, 2004
Three men arrested last week following the robbery of a University Heights convenience store, shots being fired at officers, and three-hour standoff with a SWAT team were indicted Monday. After a silent alarm was activated by a store employee during the robbery, the trio is accused of being in the car that was pulling out of the store's parking lot just as police were responding. The car was pulled over two blocks away and one suspect was arrested. The other two fled into the woods on Riddle Road where they were accused of breaking into apartments at 724 Riddle Road and holding residents of those apartments hostage. After the stand-off, the two surrendered without hurting the hostages. The pair also are charged in a Nov. 8 robbery of the Days Inn at 2280 Central Parkway in University Heights and an Oct. 28 robbery of the Checks Cashed at 2182 Queen City Ave., Westwood.

Toledo Blade - November 27, 2004
Northwood police are looking for help in identifying a man who has robbed the same gas station twice in three weeks.
The first robbery at the AP gas station, 4433 Woodville Rd., occurred at 10:15 a.m. Nov. 3. The second holdup was at 3:15 p.m. Nov. 20. The suspect brandished a black revolver both times, investigators said. It is unknown how he gets to and from the gas station. No vehicle has been seen, detectives said.

Related Stories:
Ohio employees injured by criminal attacks

Attacked in workplace parking lot

Proof: Citizens deserve right to choose self-protection in parking lots

Ohio's working families deserve right to self-defense to and from jobs

November 26, 2004
Wall Street Journal

In Oklahoma, a Ban On Guns Pits State
Against Big Firms

VALLIANT, Okla. -- In late summer of 2002, Steve Bastible put three bullets into a dying cow at his ranch, threw the emptied rifle behind the seat of his pickup and forgot about it.

A few weeks later, the rifle cost him his job of 23 years.

That Oct. 1, in a surprise search, Weyerhaeuser Co. sent gun-sniffing dogs into the parking lot of its paper mill here. Mr. Bastible and 11 other workers were fired after guns were found in their vehicles. The timber company said the weapons violated a new company policy that extended a longtime workplace gun ban to the parking area. The fired workers said they knew nothing of the new rule.

The firings outraged many in this wooded community in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. In rural Oklahoma, carrying a firearm in one's car is commonplace. "In Oklahoma, gun control is when you hit what you shoot at," says Jerry Ellis, a member of the state legislature.

Now, the dispute is reverberating beyond the borders of tiny Valliant, located in the southeast corner of the state. In response, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a law giving Oklahomans the right to keep guns locked in their cars in parking lots. But just days before the law was to go into effect this month, several prominent companies with Oklahoma operations, including Whirlpool Corp. and ConocoPhillips sued to stop it. A federal judge put the law on hold pending a hearing.

Meanwhile, several of the paper-mill workers have filed wrongful-discharge lawsuits against Weyerhaeuser and its subcontractors, which employed the workers. "This is a heck of an injustice that needs to be fixed," says their Tulsa lawyer, Larry Johnson, 72 years old, who has spent a lifetime studying the second amendment.

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

All Duke and Duchess Shoppe convenience/ filling stations in Ohio are posted with signs banning CHL-holders. But of course this criminal didn't mind the sign...

Delaware Ave. store robbed, gunman flees with cash

MARION -- A man fled with an undetermined amount of money after displaying a handgun to rob a south-side gas station/convenience store about 9 p.m. Thursday, police said. A black male entered Duke and Duchess Shoppe, 1360 Delaware Ave., showing a handgun and demanding money from the register, according to the store clerk on duty, police said. The suspect then fled the store with the money. The suspect is described as wearing a red shirt over top of a black shirt, red pants, white tennis shoes and an orange-and-brown stocking cap. He had pulled the cap, which had eyeholes cut out of it, down over his face, police said. The robber fled toward Crescent Heights Road.

All Ohio locations of Missouri-owned Save-A-Lot grocery stores are posted with signs discriminating against law-abiding citizens with CHLs, but of course these armed robbers weren't deterred...

Police ask for leads on robbery

TOLEDO - Police are seeking information through the Crime Stopper program about three men who robbed a West Toledo grocery store last week. The men entered Save-a-Lot, 3030 Monroe St., at about 8:40 p.m. on Nov. 19 and forced the manager at gunpoint to give them cash, police said. The men are described as black and were wearing dark clothing. One of them had a black semiautomatic handgun. They fled in a Chevrolet Suburban.

All Ohio locations of Goodwill Industries thrift stores (which are often located in places where the need for self-defense is of increased likelihood), are posted with signs banning guns. Perhaps they should also have thought to ban dangerous ordinance...

Grenade triggers Goodwill evacuation

AKRON - Nearly 50 people inside the Goodwill Service Center on East Waterloo Road had to be evacuated Wednesday afternoon after a live grenade was found among donated items. Nan McClenaghan, president of Goodwill Industries in Akron, said the suspicious item was found around 1 p.m. while donations were being sorted. The Akron Fire Department was called and the building was evacuated around 1:15 p.m., McClenaghan said. The Summit County Sheriff's Office's bomb squad removed the device from the building. Sheriff's Deputy Bob Hambel said the grenade did not appear to have a firing device, but it had the appearance and heft of a grenade from either China or Russia. The bomb squad took the grenade and stored it in a bunker at its training center in Green. Hambel said it was unknown who brought the grenade to Goodwill. McClenaghan said it is uncommon to find a dangerous item during the sorting process.

For contact information for these and other dangerous locations, visit OFCC's Do Not Patronize While Armed database.

This story could be no better reason to avoid shopping at businesses which post "no-guns" signs. These signs act as an advertisment to criminals that there are firearms waiting to be stolen in the parking lot, and that there are defenseless customers waiting inside.

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that area police are warning shoppers to "stay alert", because shoppers are not the only folks scouting for a good deal this holiday season.

"That's what the thieves are doing too — sizing up their victims," Miami Twp. Deputy Police Chief John DiPietro told the newspaper. "(They) target their victim based upon the victim's inability to pay attention to their surroundings."

The more vigilant the shopper, the less susceptible he or she is to theft, he said:

"The thief is going to go on to someone else who is more unsuspecting."

DiPietro told the DDN the biggest problem in the Miami Valley area is purse snatching from women in parking lots, walking through malls and standing in grocery stores. DiPietro told the newspaper thieves prey on people bogged down with bags.

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Shoppers should have their keys ready before they leave the store, Marc Rospert, executive director of the Ohio Crime Prevention Association was quoted as saying.

Should a thief approach a person headed to the car, "have those keys ready almost as a weapon," he said, adding that he does not encourage violence or retaliation in most cases.

Shoppers should park in well-lit areas and try to walk to their car in groups, Rospert said.

Shoppers who are robbed are asked to get an accurate description of the thief, the vehicle and the direction he or she left.

"We want people to be the best witness," DiPietro said.

Rospert said shoppers should remain aware and cautious beyond the gift-giving season.

"What you're doing during the holiday season, you want to be doing all year long," he said.

Employee assaulted over trash request (Nov. 25, Garfield-Maple Sun)
A Garfield Heights woman assaulted a bar employee after she told her not to use the dumpster behind Tequila Sunrise, 4830 Turney Road. The worker told police she took the trash out Nov. 17 and saw the woman throwing her garbage in the bin that belongs to the business. She told her she was not allowed to put her refuse in the dumpster and went back inside the bar. She said a few minutes later, the woman came inside and punched her and threw her against the wall. Police issued a warrant for the suspect. She faces an assault charge.

Taco Bell worker robbed, beat up taking out trash (Nov. 25, Nordonia Hills Sun)
A Taco Bell employee was assaulted about 10:50 p.m. Nov. 6 while taking out the trash behind the store, 557 E. Aurora Road. The victim told police he was attacked by three men dressed in black and wearing ski masks. They beat up the worker and stole his wallet. He said he had about $10. The robbers punched him in the face and beat him to the ground. He was taken to Sagamore Medical Center for treatment.

Shoplifting suspect attacks store manager (Nov. 25, Cincinnati Enquirer)
A manager of the Kroger store in this western Hamilton County community was hit twice Wednesday by the car of a driver who was being pursued for shoplifting, authorities said. The manager, Larry Noschang, 52, was not hurt. A woman entered the store at 4001 Ohio 128 about 1 p.m. and filled a garbage can with about $200 worth of items, including meat, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. When the manager confronted her as she left the store, she dropped the can and hopped into a blue 1989 Pontiac Grand Am. She "tapped" the manager twice with the car as she drove off and he tried to write down her license plate number, said Steve Barnett, sheriff's spokesman.

Commentary:
When Ohio employers prohibit their workers from protecting themselves while traveling to and from work, when businesses disarm law-abiding customers in hopes of deterring violent criminals, and when a company sues to prevent employees from protecting themselves even when traveling to and from work, is it any wonder that the FBI says workplace killings are the fastest-growing homicide trend in the country?

Not only can Ohio employers and businesses prohibit guns on inside their buildings (the same prohibition could be made to apply to guns in company-owned or leased cars), they can also tell you what you may (not) keep in your car while in their parking lot. This simply should not be.

Related Stories:
Human right of self-defense doesn't end at the workplace

Why do so many employee manuals render workers defenseless?

Attacked in workplace parking lot

Proof: Citizens deserve right to choose self-protection in parking lots

Ohio's working families deserve right to self-defense to and from jobs

November 25, 2004
Cincinnati Enquirer

Robbers get away in two bank robberies

COLERAIN TWP. - Authorities are investigating two bank robberies Wednesday. In both cases, a lone robber fired a weapon inside the bank. No one was hurt in either robbery, police said.

A masked gunman fired two bullets inside First Financial Bank, 10174 Colerain Ave., at 9:26 a.m., according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. One bullet lodged in a wall near the bank manager, said Steve Barnett, sheriff's spokesman. The second bullet pierced the ceiling.

The robber took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled south on Colerain Avenue in a black SUV-type vehicle to westbound Interstate 275. Cash from the robbery was found in the bank parking lot, leading authorities to believe the money was dropped after a dye pack exploded.

The suspect was described as light skinned; 5-feet-7; wearing a black leather jacket, dark clothing, black ski mask, ball cap and dark gloves.

Later Wednesday, a man with a black cloth covering his face fired one shot as he robbed the U.S. Bank at 540 Main St. in Hamilton at 1:38 p.m., police said. The robber ran away carrying a green bag with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was described as a white male 6 feet tall and in his late 20s or early 30s.

Commentary:
Some banks continue to operate under the "conventional wisdom" that by posting "no-guns" signs they somehow keep their bank "safe". They use this same "wisdom" when an armed criminal walks in the door, believing that if they just give a criminal what he wants, he won't hurt anyone.

The first bit of wisdom, about "no-guns" signs and safety, has already been proven wrong. The day will come when the non-resistance part will also be proven wrong, and a "no-guns" bank will have to suffer injured (or worse) employees and customers as a result.

How much the better if future bank robbery stories in Ohio could read like this?:

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY

The robber fraternity apparently has failed to spread the word among its members that hitting the Bank of Clarkson, Kentucky, when banker Clyde Bratcher is on duty can be a fatal mistake. Bratcher was in his office one Tuesday afternoon when a man vaulted over the bank counter and declared, "This is a robbery!" Bratcher charged to the rescue, firing twice with a handgun whose shots fatally struck the bandit in the chest. He had protected the bank's assets in a similar manner only three years earlier by dispatching yet another would-be crook who walked into the bank wielding a rifle and wearing a stocking on his head. Bratcher's grandfather also named Clyde Bratcher was a bank president when, in 1958, he ran off three bandits, pointing at them with a gun whose 35-year old cartridges failed to fire.

Related Stories:
FBI: Ohio bank heists with violent component on the rise

Shots fired by robber at ''no-guns'' First Merit bank

November 18, 2004
Cleveland Sun Courier

BRECKSVILLE - Police are looking for a suspect in a chain of thefts that happened on Nov. 3. Three reports of thefts were reported around the area of the Chippewa Road Giant Eagle. They are believed to be related.

One man reported that a CD player and a spare wallet were taken from his pickup truck. The other two victims also reported items stolen from their cars.

All three incidents happened during the day and there were no witnesses for any of them.

Commentary:
How many guns would this criminal would have been able to steal if this had happened at one of the many Giant Eagle stores which are still posted with "no guns" signs?

In August, Giant Eagle spokesman Rob Borella told the Cleveland Sunday Magazine the chain has instructed its stores not to post "no gun" signs. But he also indicated some stores in Ohio are "independently owned." Perhaps this explains why the following stores still endanger and discriminate against their customers against company wishes: