Tale of Two Cities: Two Columbus women car-jacked; Baton Rouge woman defends

Thursday, July 10, 2003
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Two women were abducted at gunpoint and their cars stolen yesterday in what
police described as a one-day crime spree by two men.

Despite a daylong search and a stakeout at a North Side motel, the men were
still at large last night.

One of the women was sexually assaulted before being released along Rt. 161
about 5 a.m., police said. She had been abducted in her car near Ferris Road
and Cleveland Avenue a half-hour earlier.

Police would not give additional details about that incident.

About 7:30 a.m., another woman, stopped at a Speedway station at Maple
Canyon Avenue and Rt. 161, was forced at gunpoint to drive less than 2 miles
away. She was released unharmed.

Meanwhile, in a state that allows its law-abiding citizens to carry a
concealed handgun for self-defense, a different outcome resulted when this
woman was car-jacked by a would-be rapist:

The Morning Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA

After being kidnapped at knifepoint in her own car, a New Orleans woman
managed to slip a .25 cal. pistol into her purse from a hiding place in her
car. She was taken to a house under construction; and when the would-be
rapist turned to look out the window for the arrival of his accomplice, the
woman drew her gun and fired three times, mortally wounding her attacker.
His body was discovered later in a parked car.

• Could the lifting of Ohio's unconstitutional ban on carrying a concealed
weapon for self-defense have saved these Columbus kidnap victims? Could the
rape have been prevented?

• Why didn't these women "just drive away", as OSHP Capt. John Born claims Ohioans can do, when they were attacked in their cars?

Contact information for the area's elected officials is provided below:

State House of Representatives
• >Rep. Linda Reidelbach (R-21) - Rep. Reidelbach is a strong pro-self-defense voter. Thank her!
Phone: (614) 644-6030
Fax: (614) 644-9494

State Senate
• >Sen. David Goodman (R-3) - Sen. Goodman is a consistent anti-self-defense voter
Phone: (614) 466-8064

Click here to read the entire story in the Columbus Dispatch.