May
21
Monday
OFCC Sues City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio
The sign you see here is posted in Cleveland Heights Parks implying possession of a firearm is a crime.
On Friday August 12th, 2011 Ohioans For Concealed Carry Filed a lawsuit against the City the City of Cleveland Heights. The litigation comes after many attempts to resolve concerns over laws that Cleveland Heights not only allowed to remain on their books, but also posted signs at their parks that continue to imply it is illegal to be armed. The City of Cleveland Heights has chosen to ignore our attempts at civil discourse. When individuals have contacted them representing themselves as residents of the City of Cleveland Heights their concerns apparently fell on deaf ears. When representatives of the organization have formally contacted the city's legal representation they've been laughed at and hung up on by the Law Director. It is this arrogance and refusal to work with Ohioans For Concealed Carry that has forced us to seek a remedy through the courts.
Our press release follows. Read the Full Story
Our press release follows. Read the Full Story
Canton PD Event Leads to New OFCC Legislation
When officer Harless of the Canton, Ohio police department came upon a vehicle stopped in the roadway most of us were focused on getting restaurant carry legislation signed into law.
What took place that evening has become an international viral video, calls for the resignation of the City Council president, and criminal charges against a man who is clearly heard trying to state that he has a license.
Ohioans For Concealed Carry has not just raised thousands of dollars in a legal defense fund, but we've written legislation to resolve this matter that Representative Danny Bubp has stated he's going to introduce this fall
Read the Full Story
Search OhioCCW
Join OFCC Today!
Upcoming Events
| 2012 Party In The Park When: August - TBD |
What is the MATRIX? A privacy advocate's worst nightmare
- Published on Wednesday, 30 November -0001 00:00
- Written by Jeff Garvas
Ohio joins multistate antiterror database
Police can search billions of records; privacy invasion, some say
Dayton Daily News
February 04, 2004
COLUMBUS -- Despite privacy concerns, Ohio is one of six states signed up to use powerful computer technology that will allow police to search billions of records to root out criminal and terrorist suspects with lightning speed.
MATRIX Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange ties together government and commercial databases for authorities to quickly comb through. The data is already accessible to law enforcement but MATRIX allows police to search it quickly, retrieving information detectives normally laboriously gather in investigating a crime, said James V. Canepa, chief deputy Ohio Attorney General.
"This is all stuff that is currently available publicly. It's just done more efficiently," Canepa said.
MATRIX compiles information from state, federal and private databases including: motor vehicle registrations, drivers licenses, criminal and prison records, voter registrations, digitized photos, property ownership, tax and utility records, phone books, corporate registrations, sexual offenders, address information from credit histories, and more.
Exactly what data is included depends on what participating states decide to submit. Ohio is ready to supply criminal histories and is studying whether to add Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and highway patrol records.
Christine Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said MATRIX will allow the government to assemble electronic dossiers on millions of innocent Americans. It shifts suspicion from individuals to everyone, she said.
The ACLU said MATRIX is akin to the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness large-scale database. That project, now scrapped, would have allowed authorities to shift through scores of personal information, looking for patterns that might identify terrorists.
Attorney General Jim Petro has decided to add Ohio's criminal histories to the MATRIX database, but it is up to Gov. Bob Taft whether records under his control are added, said Petro spokeswoman Kim Norris. Petro's office signed an agreement Jan. 23 to participate, she said.
The state Department of Public Safety, which is under Taft's control, is studying whether to add Bureau of Motor Vehicles and highway patrol records and if so, whether any information should be held back, said Susan Raber, public safety spokeswoman.
Once system security issues are worked out, a handful of Ohio's 975 law enforcement agencies will initially have access to MATRIX. Eventually, all Ohio police agencies would be able to tap into it for law enforcement queries.
MATRIX is funded with $12 million from U.S. Justice and Homeland Security departments.
Story edited for space - click here to read the entire story.