Ohioans For Concealed Carry continues to receive requests for updates on problems with Shelby Co. Sheriff Kevin O'Leary and Jeffrey Billiel, editor of Brown Publishing's Sidney Daily News. In recent weeks, we have received information about Miami Co. Prosecutor Gary Nasal's "investigation" that is deeply discouraging.

Before that, some background:

On June 17, Nasal was appointed special prosecutor by Shelby Co. Court of Common Pleas Judge John D. Schmitt, to look into possible criminal violations by Shelby Co. Sheriff Kevin O'Leary and Sidney Daily News editor Jeffrey Billiel, a Brown Publishing Co. employee.

Earlier that month, Sheriff O'Leary responded to a public records request from Billiel by releasing the protected, private information about concealed handgun licenseholders. Billiel then published the protected information in the Sidney Daily News.

Under Ohio law, the release or dissemination of information beyond name, county of residence, and date of birth is considered a felony, and is subject to a $1000 fine, as well as civil action by each of the 85 individuals who were violated.

In the days following the actions of the Sheriff and newspaper editor, at least ten Ohio Concealed Handgun License-holders contacted OFCC for advice on seeking legal recourse for damages related to the release of their private, protected information. These people were referred to Attorney Ken Hanson with the firm of Firestone and Brehm, Ltd., for legal help.

Gary Nasal was appointed to investigate allegations that Sheriff O'Leary "did release or otherwise disseminate records that are confidential under Ohio Revised Code Section 2923.129(B)(1), and against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio, a fifth degree felony." The investigation is also examining charges that O'Leary committed dereliction of duty and violated the civil rights of the 85 license-holders whose private information was disseminated. Those crimes are misdemeanors of the second and first degree, respectively.

As we will document below, there is 100% proof that the violation occurred, yet the "investigation" by Gary Nasal has been stalled for nearly six months.

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

Yet another Ohio-based business has made the corporate decision to remove discriminatory signs banning CHL-holders from their restaurants.

Like Frisch's, MicroCenter, Home Depot, Giant Eagle, Perkins Family Restaurants, Kroger, and the Ohio Auto Dealers Association (to name a few), Handyman ACE Hardware has responded to customers' questions about why these businesses were posting signs in Ohio.

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OFCC PAC Chairman Jim Irvine has received excellent news from Handyman ACE Hardware President David Grimes. In response to "numerous notes and letters from members of [OFCC]", Mr. Grimes informed Irvine that the signs were not posted with the "intention to offend anyone", and says "please be advised that we have removed these signs from our stores."

The company has made a responsible decision that is in the best interest of their customers. As OFCC's Business Education Task Force has been saying for months, there are no credible studies that show increased dangers to businesses because of concealed carry, yet many prove the benefits.

Keep up the good work - BUSINESSES ARE GETTING THE MESSAGE!

NOTE: There are other ACE hardware stores in Ohio, owned by other entities, which have not yet removed their signs. For contact information for these and other dangerous locations, visit OFCC's Do Not Patronize While Armed database.

But the shooting will continue in the political war over guns

Article by Brian Doherty originally appeared at Reason Online on December 21, 2004 (republished with permission)

Last week, the United States Justice Department publicly released a long document, signed by three deputy assistant attorneys general, spelling out in great detail the linguistic, historical, and case-law reasons why it officially considers the right to own guns an individual one, just like the rights protected by the First Amendment, and not merely a collective right or a guarantee that states could manage their own militias.

In doing so, the deputy AGs couldn't help but note that they were not stating any obvious conventional wisdom, or even an uncontroversial stance embraced by the American government in all its manifestations. "The Supreme Court," the Memorandum Opinion for the Attorney General dated August 24, 2004, (but apparently only made public Friday) declared, "has not decided among these three potential interpretations [only one of which sees gun possession as an individual right], and the federal circuits are split. The Executive Branch has taken different views over the years." And the Supreme Court just last year declined to consider a Second Amendment-based challenge to a California ban on semi-automatic weapons.

Stories of guns used in criminal mayhem are available daily. Colorful and well-publicized recent examples include the tale of the Hmong hunter Chai Soua Vang, who allegedly killed five and wounded three hunters when they tried to make him leave a private deer hunting platform in the Wisconsin woods, and the gruesome, bizarre shooting of former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott, while Abbott was rocking onstage in Columbus, Ohio with his new band Damageplan.

After killing four people (including Dimebag) and wounding two others, and while holding his gun to the head of another potential victim, shooter Nathan Gale was himself gunned down by a sureshot cop who had rushed inside.

As Reason's Hit and Run commenter Stevo Darkly noted, had the shooter been an armed audience member rather than an officially sanctioned cop, the press coverage would doubtless have been along the lines of "Scarcely four months after the expiration of a federal ban on assault weapons, two gun-carrying fans...opened fire on members of the group, audience members, and each other."

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

The Toledo Blade announced yesterday it is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man who raped a female newspaper carrier in northwest Toledo early Sunday.

Police said the man forced himself into the car of the woman in the 2800 block of Tremainsville Road about 5:30 a.m. and sexually assaulted her.

Commentary:
How sensitive. The Blade is offering a whole $5000 to find the person who raped
one if its contract carriers while she was on the job. What is that - about the price
of a few full-page ads? Real generous.

At the same time, the Blade continue to enforce a ban on armed self-defense for
its employees and contract carriers. These people should be ashamed for a company policy which mandates that Blade personnel with concealed handgun licenses (who are trained, who have passed FBI background check, and who have never had a drug conviction) disarm themselves even as it sends them into harms' way each day.

Ohio law may give the corporation immunity from civil liability for enforcing a policy which renders workers like this poor woman defenseless, but they can never, ever escape their moral responsibility.

Related Story:
Newspaper carrier raped on the job; her employer bans self-defense

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that two men entered Fifth Third Bank at 6301 Wilmington Pike about 3 p.m. and took an undetermined amount of cash at gunpoint, Centerville police Lt. Bruce Robertson said.

The first suspect, who brandished a silver semiautomatic handgun, wore a hooded gray sweatshirt with the logo "Old Navy" in black letters across the front, blue jeans and black boots, Robertson said.

The second suspect, who wore a hooded black sweatshirt and blue jeans, displayed a revolver. Both wore black ski masks.

Robertson said the suspects ran north from the bank and entered an older model black or dark-colored medium-sized SUV, which was last seen speeding north on Interstate 675.

Apparently these gentlemen didn't see the "no-guns" signs which are prominently displayed at Fifth Third banks throughout the state. As we have tried to tell them for months, the bank's signs, posted in the name of safety, have been proven once again only to keep out law-abiding citizens who have undergone extensive background checks, received firearms training, etc.

For a long (but likely far from complete) list of "no-guns" businesses in Ohio that have been attacked by armed criminals, click here.