OFCC's David Kessler on Sept. 29 spoke to NRA News about the current state of affairs in Canton.

To watch the excellent 6-minute video:

1. Go to www.nranews.com

2. Click on "show archive" from the list on left.

3. Click on the picture of the NRA News hosts.

4. Choose "Sept. 29" from the tabs at the top

5. Choose "Dave Kessler" from the box of selections

Since 2004 one of this organization's biggest legislative goals was to eliminate the sheer number of restaurants you could not enter while carrying a concealed handgun in Ohio.   As of midnight Friday morning we are thrilled to see this law become effective.

Since early August Ohioans For Concealed Carry, through a team of grassroots volunteers in our discussion forums, have been blanketing the State of Ohio's law enforcement agencies with a three page document educating them on the law changes.  Some agencies have literally adopted this actual document as their position, policy, or formal communication to officers on the changes. One Sheriff forwarded the letter as  PDF to every single member of his office and mandated that they read and understand the document.  You should print this out and read it to become familiar with the changes that are effective immediately - and consider distributing copies to your local law enforcement to re-enforce the fact that the law has changed:

http://www.ohioccw.org/files/SB17-educational-letter-v4.pdf

As of midnight the following changes became effective Ohio law:

Things are far from over in Canton. The fate of CHL holder William Bartlett, for whom OFCC has established a legal defense fund, is still unknown. He faces the preposterous charge of failing to declare his CHL status to Canton patrolman Daniel Harless during a traffic stop at which Harless engaged in some of the worst police abuse in recent U.S. history. Harless' future also is unclear.

So far, though, we see at least one ray of sunshine breaking through the Canton cloud. You'll recall that Canton City Council President Allen Schulman was the focus of some sharp criticism from OFCC as the Harless story unfolded. Schulman took a hardline, anti-gun position in the aftermath of the Harless event. We disagreed with that opinion and publicly criticized it.

Then, Allen Schulman called us.

That conversation came to a remarkable conclusion. Schulman offered to lend us his political clout as we attempt to revise the dysfunctional LEO-notification law (new legislation currently is being written). He also accepted our invitation to an afternoon at the pistol range. That's what we call a good conversation.

Since our range date is likely to include both shooting and a serious discussion of firearm rights, OFCC also invited former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to come along. Governor Strickland, a long-time friend of OFCC and advocate of the state's concealed carry law, was kind enough to put the meeting on his calendar. The event is scheduled in November.

We'll keep you posted as details develop.

Cleveland.com reports that the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the murder conviction of Carl Kozlosky who was convicted in 2009 for murder and sentenced to fifteen years to life by a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. The story is here.

The Appellate Court issued a strong opinion in remanding the case for a new trial, saying that if it had the authority, it would totally dismiss the charges against Kozlosky rather than remanding the case, as the evidence clearly indicated self defense. The entire decision is available online. From the decision:

In the instant case, nothing in the record indicates that Kozlosky was at fault in creating the incident that led to Coleman’s death. To the contrary, at trial, the evidence unequivocally established that Coleman, who had previously been evicted from the residence, was unlawfully in the house on the day he was shot and killed by Kozlosky.

This is a strong decision in favor of self defense and the Castle Doctrine which will hopefully send a message to prosecutors in Cuyahoga County and throughout the State of Ohio.