Toledo's gun control problem: only the criminals have guns
In Ohio, gun grabbers have found perhaps no greater a sympathetic ear than the Toledo City Council.
State law prohibits carrying a concealed firearm for self-defense, and the Court says this is Constitutional, since Ohioans can carry a firearm openly.
But in Toledo, Municipal Code 549.18, Weapon possession in public places prohibited is cited by Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre as the basis for arresting Ohioans who attempt to exercise their Supreme Court-recognized "fundamental individual right" to openly carry a firearm for self-defense in his city.
Click here to read a letter from the Toledo Police Department on the subject of open carry in Toledo.
Toledo bureaucrats are fond of bans. In addition to the open carry ban (which is, since the Court's recent ruling, begging for a constitutional challenge), Toledo also bans the sale of inexpensive firearms in that city. The consequence is, of course, that lower-income persons have an even harder time protecting themselves. The open carry ban denies them protection on the streets, and the inexpensive firearms ban disarms many, even in their homes.
Despite Toledo's various gun control laws,
crime in Toledo is rampant, and growing. Consider these headlines from just this week.
Nov. 29:
Police seek clues to solve slaying during A-1 Auto Parts robbery
Car-wash manager is robbed, stabbed
Apparent rifleman crashes car during chase by police
Known suspect shoots Walbridge Avenue girl
Nov. 27:
2 still jailed after holdup, carjacking in W. Toledo
Nov. 26:
Gunman in ski mask botches holdup try
Nov. 25:
Bar robbed by 3 men wearing ghost masks
Nov. 24:
Toledo man shot on Fernwood Ave.
Nov. 23:
Drive-by shooting in central Toledo leaves 2 injured
Man outside apartment shot in face by passer-by
Nov. 22:
Police seek clues in Toledo slaying
Meanwhile, Toledo City Council last summer enacted a city-wide smoking ban in all public places (including private property like restaurants and bars), and is spending precious city crime-fighting resources to enforce it. According to Toledo's chief counsel, John Madigan, there is "an army that includes more than 700 police officers and 500 firefighters empowered to issue citations for illegally smoking in bars and restaurants."
They say it's all about protecting public health...the open carry ban, the ban on inexpensive firearms, and the new ban on smoking.
So if you see someone smoking, just call 419-936-STOP. If you see or are the victim of an armed assailant in Toledo, dial 911 and hope you don't have to wait for the police to return from a smoke call.
Now doesn't that sound healthy?
Related Stories:
Toledo: Disarmed (smoke-free) citizens, well-armed criminals
Toledo gun control policies continue to fail to protect residents from criminals
Tale of Two Cities: 20th Toledo bank robbery this year; Louisville robber killed
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