May 29, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

The May 14 Dispatch editorial "No need for fast guns" failed to give one shred of evidence to support a stance against concealed-carry. In fact, none of The Dispatch’s anti-gun rhetoric over the years rises above, "We hate guns and you should, too."

I thought the job of the editorial board is to craft public-policy arguments based on sound research, facts and evidence. Your emotional attachment to a failed social experiment does not — no matter how hard you might wish — count as any of the three.

At first, I was insulted that you quoted me out of context as a setup for a slam piece devoid of fact.

On second thought, I realized if you attacked me in such an unfounded manner, my side must be winning — and we are. Grass-roots support for my point of view continues to grow nationwide, and soon gun control as a means of ensuring public safety will be relegated to scrap heap.

Recent Zogby polls show 79 percent of people nationwide support laws that allow citizens to carry a concealed firearm. Right-to-Carry drew better than 70 percent support in every demographic group, with even non-gun-owners indicating their backing by 73 percent to 23 percent. Clearly the Dispatch editorial board is out of touch with its readers and the beliefs of everyday Ohioans.

It must be hard to know the will of the people when you stand at arm’s length and preach instead of lowering yourself to ask.

Clearly, anti-gun zealots do not accept the gravity of allowing criminals to mill about with the freedom to attack with impunity. The belief that disarming responsible law-abiding citizens — misguided as it is — will lead to a safer Ohio has no basis in fact.

States that enact concealed-carry laws have not seen an increase in gun violence or accidents. Hiding your head in the sand and ignoring the other 45 states’ success will not save your disproved beliefs about concealed-carry.

Detroit saw a 21 percent decrease in reported shootings in the year after concealed-carry became law, according to The Detroit News, and according to the FBI, Michigan saw a 10.5 percent decrease in its crime rate during the same period.

Like it or not — and The Dispatch doesn’t — gun control failed as an ideology and was never accepted by everyday Ohioans.

Only those emotionally invested continue to tout its value. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently concluded that there is no proof that gun-control laws decrease crime or gun accidents.

Ohio’s current concealed-carry law required the 88 sheriffs to accept applications beginning April 8. Some, however, are using a limited appointment schedule to delay the process.

Applying for a concealed-carry permit should be no different than applying for a marriage or driver’s license, which can be done during normal business hours, without appointments. That is the law.

Gerard Valentino
Central Ohio coordinator
Ohioans for Concealed Carry
Pickerington

May 26, 2004
New York Journal News

TARRYTOWN — In her new book, "Blown Away: American Women and Guns," Caitlin Kelly takes the gun debate recently galvanized by filmmaker Michael Moore to another level.

In his Academy Award-winning documentary, "Bowling for Columbine," Moore examines gun violence in America, but does not address the role firearms play in women's lives, Kelly said.

The Tarrytown author, however, does just that in "Blown Away" (Pocket Books Original; $13), taking what she describes as an unbiased exploration of a woman's right to bear arms, while also calling attention to the many women who succumb to gun violence every year.

"I'm glad Michael Moore started the conversation," said Kelly, 46. "I'm just continuing it. In this country, you are either wildly pro-gun or wildly anti-gun. We need to better understand both sides of the issue.

Female gun use appears to be on the rise. The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago estimates that 17 million of the country's 90 million gun owners are women. Westchester, Rockland and Putnam women are not immune to the trend, authorities said.

Kelly took aim at the subject after discovering, much to her surprise, that two of her friends — middle-class, white women living in safe neighborhoods — owned firearms. Kelly said that in 1996, after taking a three-day defensive weapons class at the Smith & Wesson Academy in Springfield, Mass., while on assignment for The Wall Street Journal, she was intrigued by the power she felt from firing a weapon.

"I liked the novel feeling of power this gave me — and briefly imagined a life where I kept a sleek, familiar 9mm near me," she wrote. "A life in which I might never fear rape, robbery, mugging."

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

Ohioans For Concealed Carry is pleased to announce our first annual Party in the Park - scheduled for September 4th at a Central Ohio park.

Although many of the details are being worked out, we plan on having a family event and will welcome all pro-concealed carry Ohio residents, friends and family from far and wide.

Our website will be updated as information is available, so keep your eye out for further announcements that will include the location, time, and other details.

As you start a great summer this Memorial Day weekend, keep summer's last weekend - Labor Day - in mind to spend with other concealed carry supporters.

This is your chance to meet with hundreds of your closest friends and the most dedicated concealed carry advocates in the state! We'll see you there.

Legal concealed carry is not only permitted, it's encouraged!

May 29, 2004
Cincinnati Enquirer (UPDATED STORY)

ROSELAWN - The owner of a convenience store shot and killed an armed man wearing a black ski mask who authorities said was intending to rob the store, police said Friday.

Abdrab "Abe" Ashishi, of West Chester, was the only employee working at the Shop Rite, in the 7900 block of Reading Road, when he shot and killed David A. Billups, 40, of Forest Park, about 9:45 p.m. Thursday.

Billups is the 32nd person to be slain in Cincinnati this year.

Ashishi called 911 to report he shot someone trying to rob him.

When officers and emergency medical crews arrived, they found Billups - wearing a ski mask and black leather gloves and armed with a handgun - lying on the floor just inside the store with a gunshot wound, police said.

Clerks at the store Friday afternoon said Ashishi was distraught about the shooting and would not be returning to work until next week. Ashishi did not return repeated requests for interviews.

Police interviewed Ashishi, but authorities had not made a decision Friday as to whether charges would be filed in the case.

Detectives and prosecutors still had to discuss details of the shooting before a decision would be reached, said Karl Kadon, a prosecutor and spokesman for Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen. The death is a homicide, but he said the law allows people to use deadly force when justified if there is an immediate threat of harm to themselves or someone else.

If authorities deem the shooting self-defense, the case will not go to a grand jury. But if there's probable cause to believe it wasn't, the facts of the case will be reviewed by grand jurors who decide whether a charge will be issued, Kadon said.

By Friday afternoon, there was a steady stream of customers into the Shop Rite and no visible signs that a robbery had occurred at the store.

Shop Rite, which usually closes at 11 p.m., is in a shopping strip that includes a check cashing/electronics store, international food market and a church.

Employees at several stores in the area described Ashishi as a quiet man who keeps to himself, and said robberies at area businesses are rare.

Unlike the situation in Cuyahoga Co., when that sheriff failed to do his duty under the law, the Delaware Co. sheriff had a desire to follow the law, and was in need of the proper tools.

OFCC steering committee members have been working tirelessly to get this situation resolved, and we are pleased to announce that aggressive action is now being taken to correct the situation. Special thanks go to the Ohio Attorney General's office, and to Representative Jon Peterson (R-2) (a 2002 OFCC PAC Endorsee) for their assistance in this matter.

May 27, 2004
NBC4Columbus.com

DELAWARE, Ohio -- The first round of applicants for concealed carry permits in Delaware County will receive phone calls or letters in the next few days notifying them if their applications have been approved, according to Sheriff Al Myers.

Myers said the county has received more than 500 applications for permits since the new law went into effect April 8. His office has issued more than 100 licenses, and more than 50 appointments have been made to issue more licenses.

Myers said he will appear June 1 before the Board of County Commissioners to ask for an additional temporary employee to help with the applications. He said the most time-consuming part is the background check, especially waiting for out-of-county responses.

"I support the Second Amendment, and the statute says I need to process these applications in 45 days," Myers said. "I take that legal obligation seriously."

Myers also said he instructed his deputies to use a "common sense" approach in deciding whether to make an arrest for a person carrying a concealed weapon.

"There are folks out there who legitimately carried a gun prior to the new law, and now their old affirmative defense has been taken away," Myers said.

Myers said he consulted with Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost, who agreed to review all charges personally before presenting them to the grand jury.

"He agrees that people shouldn't be turned into criminals because they're waiting on paperwork," Myers said.

Last week, a new policy of banning firearms in FirstMerit Bank began to be enforced. Signs were posted in several branches, with word that they will be posted in all Ohio branches. Unfortunately for residents in Pennsylvania, who have been able to bank at FirstMerit for several years without being confronted with discriminatory signs, we have learned the bank plans to post them there too. That state has had a concealed carry law since the late 1980's.

OFCC has learned that yesterday marked the FIFTH robbery at an Ohio FirstMerit in the past two weeks.

May 26 robbery: Akron FirstMerit Bank at 727 N. Main St.

May 25 robbery: Columbus First Merit Bank at East Powell Road and Polaris Parkway

May 20 robbery: Akron FirstMerit Bank branch at 1060 Kenmore Blvd.

May 17 robbery: Akron FirstMerit branch at 840 Brittain Road

May 14 robbery: Akron FirstMerit Bank ATM customer in 1400 block of South Arlington Street

Ohio has one of the highest bank robbery rates in the nation. The Ohio Banker's League is distributing instructions on how banks can ban CHL-holders. But clearly bank robbers could not care less about FirstMerit's discriminatory signs.

FirstMerit has been serving Northeastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania for over 155 years. Pennsylvania has had a concealed carry law since the late 80's, and In the time they have done business in that state, FirstMerit has never been posted with discriminatory signs!! (our sources say that may soon change)

Customer Contact Center - 1-888-554-4362
In the Akron area, please call 330-996-6025.
Email: customerservice@firstmerit.com.
(If you would like to hear back from a FirstMerit customer representative, please indicate that in your message.)

Akron Beacon Journal:
Two residents held up within minutes of each other - Kent crime victims describe same robber
Two Kent residents were robbed at gunpoint by the same person within several minutes early Wednesday, police said.

The first victim, Melissa Ann Lemr, 25, told police she was getting out of her vehicle in the parking lot of the Lake Street Apartments at 12:06 a.m. when the robber approached her, put a gun to her face and took her money, Kent police Lt. John Altomare said.

While patrol officers were responding to that call, the second victim, Theodore O. McFrederic, 34, flagged down an officer and said he had been robbed on Lake Street at 12:09 a.m. by a man matching the description of the first robber, Altomare said.

Cancer patient dies after April assault/ robbery in home
A cancer patient who allegedly was beaten and robbed for his painkillers at his East Avenue home last month has died.

Jerry Dent, 65, died Monday, according to a newspaper death notice.

Akron police have said that Dent was attacked April 15 after he refused to reveal where he kept his prescription drugs -- OxyContin and morphine. Paull and Renee Dalton, a Barberton couple whom Dent hired to repair his home, have been charged with felonious assault, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary.

Dent was hit in the head and knocked to the floor during the incident, police said. As he lay on the floor, he was kicked several times in the ribs and chest, they said.

Canton Repository:
Gunmen rob delivery driver of $20 at downtown post office

Two men robbed a mail delivery driver at gunpoint of $20 at a downtown post office and then forced all the other employees inside to lay on the ground early Saturday morning.

An alarm scared the robbers away, police said.

The robbery occurred at 5:15 a.m. Saturday at the post office at 220 Fourth St. SW.

After they robbed the driver, the duo entered the building through a door on the south side and ordered all the workers to the floor, said Sgt. Ralph Ketchum.

Dayton Daily News:
Woman attacked in home after ride - police say suspect may be serial rapist
She knew him as a customer at her place of employment," Flanders said, which is a carry-out/fast food type of business.

The two went to the victim's apartment, where Flanders said Henley talked his way inside and then raped her sometime between 5:15 and 6 a.m.

"He stabbed her and tried to suffocate her with a pillow. . . . He pulled a knife and stabbed her twice. Once in the side and once in the hip," Flanders said, adding that the knife did not come from the victim's home. "She did fight for her life."

The victim escaped, ran and boarded a RTA bus about 6 a.m., Flanders said. She was taken to an area hospital suffering from serious injuries, he said.

Flanders called Henley extremely dangerous and said, "there is a possibility that there are other victims," offering no other details.

Man arrested in beating death
David Reed, 56, died shortly before 7 a.m., Burke said. Police said they think Reed and Neeley got into a verbal argument on a patio behind a business at 1333 E. Third St. before the argument "escalated to a beating."

No weapons were used, said Burke.

WKYC.com:
Gunfire sends youth soccer team running
KENT -- Young soccer players are practicing under police protection tonight, after someone fired several shots at a soccer complex this weekend.

Soccer isn't considered a dangerous sport but what happened at Al Lease Park on Sunday might make any soccer mom reconsider.

Four booming shots sent 20 children running from the park Sunday afternoon. Remarkably, the parents and coaches reacted very well.

The alleged shooter, 25-year-old Lavon Eichelberger is out on bond tonight. Expect him to be charged with inducing panic.

May 18, 2004
Indianapolis Star

Deliveryman: 'It was my gun or his'

Marion County prosecutors will decide if any charges will be filed against a pizza deliveryman who killed an armed man during an apparent robbery attempt Monday night on the city's Far Eastside.

"I'm just satisfied it was him and not me," said Ronald B. Honeycutt, 38, of Carmel this morning.

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

May 23, 2004
By John R. Lott, Jr.

What is happening to the gun control movement?

This month, the Million Mom March in Washington drew an anemic showing of only 2,000 people, while this year, all of the Democratic presidential candidates— however unenthusiastically— spoke of Americans’ Second Amendment right to own guns. These are just a few of the signs that the facts finally seem to be catching up to the movement. The future for the movement looks even worse.

Whether the subject is concealed handgun laws or bans on semi-automatic so-called “assault weapons,” gun control debates have been filled with apocalyptic claims about what will happen if gun control is not adopted. One common prediction is that laws allowing the carrying of a concealed weapon will result in crime waves, or permit holders shooting others. However, with 37 states now having right-to-carry laws, and another nine states letting some citizens carry, permit holders have continually shown themselves to be extremely law-abiding. It is becoming more and more difficult to attack those laws.

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

May 26, 2004
NewsNet5.com

Don't Park On Street In Downtown Cleveland

CLEVELAND -- Car theft happens every day in America. And not too long ago it happened to Debbie Trevarthen twice.

"My husband came and said, 'Where did you park the car?' and I said, 'Right on the corner.' and it was gone," she said.

Thieves stole Trevarthen's 1994 Pontiac Sunbird two times in less than three months. The second time they stripped it bare.

"Everything was gone, engine, everything was gone," Trevarthen said.

NewsChannel5 analyzed a full year's worth of stolen car reports from Cleveland to Akron and surrounding suburbs. This information could help you protect your car from being stolen. (The darker the color in the area code pictures, the more cars stolen.)

Trevarthen's car was stolen at Great Lakes Mall. Her car was one of 13 cars stolen from the mall last year.

At Great Northern Mall, thieves stole 15 cars. And at South Park Mall, they got five.

"Those vehicles can be stolen in a matter of less than 30 seconds," said Progressive Insurance agent John Sauerland.

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