Toledo-Area 'Defense' Walkers welcomed in Swanton with ''honks, waves & smiles

Drivers and residents honked car horns and waved, or gave a thumbs-up sign, to the 100+ openly armed 'Defense' Walkers in Swanton Sunday. At least two residents came out and joined the Walk as it progressed by their homes. This group was probably the most diverse, in terms of gender, that we've seen yet. Many women, many families with children.

Fox Toledo (Ch. 36) reported that about 100 people walked in downtown Swanton supporting concealed carry and vividly demonstrating the clear options of open carry on the street versus the many advantages of concealed carry.

The Toledo Blade gave good coverage in two stories leading up to the Walk, but did not send a reporter to Swanton. Most notable was the absence of Toledo's ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates. Each station received emails, faxes and phone calls announcing the event, and inviting their coverage. Since these news stations have shown willingness to cover such non-events as five people with a "No War" sign (and to make them look like a hundred or more), there can really be no other explanation for their no-show than they didn't want the message to get out in Toledo.

Walkers expressed interest in staging an empty-holster Walk in downtown Toledo, as an expression of how Toledo law renders law-abiding citizens defenseless, in direct conflict with the state Constitution and Supreme Court.

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.