2008 Year in Review

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Published on Wednesday, 31 December 2008 08:49

Written by Daniel White

Happy New Year, from Ohioans For Concealed Carry!

2008 was a very interesting year for gun rights in Ohio, and the United States.

We kicked off the year in January by filing briefs in our landmark case Ohioans For Concealed Carry v. City of Clyde, which after many years finally worked its way up to the Ohio Supreme Court.

In February, we learned that, at the request of the Bush Administration and 51 members of the United States Senate led by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were considering revision of the ban on carrying and transportation of firearms in National Parks and wildlife refuges. OFCC was one of the signatories on two petitions encouraging the rule change.

April found us again holding a very successful fundraiser, the Fun ‘n Gun. Last year’s event was held at the Tactical Defense Institute, hosted by John Benner.

In June, after many months of consideration and testimony, Substitute Senate Bill 184 was signed into law by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, enacting many important fixes to Ohio’s concealed carry laws, including “Castle Doctrine.”

Also in June, one of our members was detained and harassed by police in Willowick for openly carrying a firearm. This ended up being the first of several times that OFCC was involved with Law Enforcement education regarding the legality of open carry, which culminated in an open carry walk in Northwood in early autumn.

June was a very busy month, and ended in the historic victory in the Supreme Court of the United States as the individual right to keep and bear arms was confirmed in the District of Columbia v. Heller case.

In August, OFCC held our fifth annual members picnic, the Party in the Park. Not only did everyone have a great time enjoying the company of like-minded second amendment activists, we were also honored to have all three candidates for Ohio Attorney General address the crowd, as well as a fantastic keynote address by NRA News host Cam Edwards.

In September, Ohio gun owners rights were secured thanks to our victory in the OFCC v. Clyde case. This case upheld statewide preemption, meaning all local gun laws not specifically authorized by state or federal law were invalidated, leading to a string of repealed ordinances in some of Ohio’s most anti-gun municipalities.

Early December saw the final gun rights victory of 2008 when the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it had adopted a rule change lifting the blanket ban on firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. The DOI change restored the rights of law-abiding gun owners who wish to transport and carry firearms for lawful purposes on most DOI lands, and will make federal law consistent with the state law in which these public lands are located when the changes go into effect on January 9, 2009. Of course, we learned yesterday that the Brady Campaign is suing to stop the change, so the battle isn't over by a long shot.

Overall, 2008 was a great year for gun rights, but our work is far from over. There are many onerous restrictions in Ohio that we need to work on fixing, including Restaurant carry (allow ccw in retail food establishments provided CHL holder is not consuming alcohol), Stand Your Ground legislation (extending Castle Doctrine to any place you have a legal right to be), Katrina legislation (preventing gun confiscations during a state of emergency), making it so that private businesses that ban on premises are only civil trespass (like parking lots), change CHL to CCW (so it applies to knives, pepper spray, etc), ensure that employers cannot ban in private vehicles in company parking lot (like Florida), legally prohibit Sheriffs from requiring appointments for dropping off CHL applications, remove the requirement that an unlocked box containing a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle needs to be in plain sight, make certified instructors exempt from competency certification provided their certification is kept current, remove the LEO notification requirement for CHL holders, permit loaded magazines for all firearms in a vehicle if not loaded into the firearm and accessible only by leaving the vehicle (with no CHL required, narrow down the list of CPZ's (remove police stations, sheriffs offices, council meetings, city halls, fire stations, public buildings, universities, hospitals, & churches), create a non resident CHL, and work to allow air guns for the range requirement of the CHL training, making it less expensive and more convenient to acquire the required training. Add all of that to the fears that President-elect Barack Obama is assembling an anti-gun administration, and OFCC’s role in protecting and expanding your gun rights is more critical than ever.

Through the end of January, OFCC is extending our holiday membership sale. If you’re due to renew any time in 2009, you can extend your membership now and take advantage of the $5 discount! OFCC’s strength is in our membership, and we need each and every one of you!

Thank you for your support during 2008, and we’re looking forward to working with you all in the coming year.

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