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Written by Jeff Garvas
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Monday, 17 September 2007 |
JOIN US THIS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH FOR FRIENDS, FOOD AND FUN!
 Governor Strickland
This year's picnic will start earlier than prior years in order to accommodate the obviously hectic schedule of Governor Strickland. Lunch will be served at 11:30AM. Governor Strickland is expected to arrive at noon and will address the crowd between 12:30 and 1:00PM.
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Written by Jeff Garvas
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Tuesday, 11 September 2007 |
A slightly different version of this article appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on September 22nd as a guest editorial in the Metro section. You can also find it online here:
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's proposed gun law won't stop the killings
A definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
On Monday, September 10th, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson was flanked by Cleveland area Democrats from the Ohio House and Senate and announced the City's intention to submit legislation in the Ohio House to enact new statewide gun control as a solution to Cleveland's shooting epidemic. Anyone living in the Cleveland media market knows that Cleveland has suffered a rash of shootings over the past few weeks, many resulting in innocent people dying.
Pressured by community out cry and activists to do something, Mayor Jackson proudly announced to at a press conference that any child, 14 or 15, could walk down an Ohio street "waving" an assault rifle around and there is nothing the city could do about it. This of course was quickly disputed by Cleveland Police Patrolman's Association President Steve Loomis, who told the Plain Dealer that such an act could potentially warrant arrest for inducing panic. We feel it might also warrant disorderly conduct charges too -- waving a gun around in a threatening manner is potentially menacing, too. In other words, it might not be a "gun" crime, but the act described is not technically lawful.
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Friday, 20 July 2007 |
Picnic Rescheduled - More HERE
When: Saturday September, 29th 2007 (rescheduled)
11am to 6pm
Where: Liberty Park
Due to the rescheduling any tickets already purchased can still be used, or if you wish, we will refund tickets for those who can't make the new date on September 29th.
(corner of Liberty Rd. and Home Rd.)
in Powell, Delaware Co., Ohio
Click here for a map
Join us for the fourth annual OFCC Party In The Park family picnic!
Click here to order tickets today!
All members and supporters are invited to attend. Enjoy the food, listen to the speakers, and hang out with hundreds of your closest friends and the most dedicated self-defense advocates in the state!
Tickets are only $14/person or $25/couple and are available for sale on our website, www.OhioCCW.org. With every paid adult, up to two children eat free!
Confirmed speakers include Ohio Representative Michael DeBose (D-Cleveland), that was formerly an opponent of concealed carry until he underwent an armed mugging attempt that convinced him to obtain a CHL, John Benner, founder of Tactical Defense Institute, one of the leading firearms and tactical training facilities in the country, and Brian Patrick, from the University of Toledo. Professor Patrick has presented at numerous events, including the 2006 Firearms Law and Second Amendment Symposium held at the George Mason School of Law in Arlington, VA. |
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Written by Tom McNaughton
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Thursday, 28 June 2007 |
Matt Westerhold, the Managing Editor of the Sandusky Register, printed a response on Wednesday attempting to explain his dangerous and reckless decision to publish the personal information of people that have merely chosen to exercise their rights guaranteed under the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions.
Below, you can read his weak attempt at justification, as well as my in-line rebuttals that are bolded for emphasis.
WESTERHOLD: It's about the secrets, not about the gun owners
No, sorry Mr. Westerhold, but it’s about the guns. You have made your anti-gun stance very clear, time and time again – not least of all by your actions at your previous paper. It is rather that you published this list of gun-owners as a self-serving political statement.
This is a battle the Register never sought, but would have been irresponsible to have ducked.
Granted this is a battle the Register would never have sought. It likely never occurred to you that law-abiding citizens would and could fight back against your improper and ill-conceived actions.
Your irresponsibility came in publishing a list of the law-abiding citizens in order to make a political statement that otherwise has no legitimate journalistic purpose.
Now, the National Rifle Association and the Ohio Concealed Carry group
That would be the Ohioans for Concealed Carry, thank you very much. We manage to get your name straight, perhaps you could manage to get ours right -- though facts have never been your strong suit.
have begun an organized campaign to harass the newspaper’s advertisers
No, sorry, wrong again. We have encouraged folks to let your advertisers know the sort of biased political bile you have been serving up -- and that your advertisers have been supporting. That is not called harassment; it's called the reasonable response of concerned citizens. |
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 |
More advertisers added at 10:45PM on Wednesday, June 27
As you have read elsewhere on this website and in our popular discussion forums, OFCC is organizing an effort to contact businesses that advertise in The Sandusky Register to ask for their support in demanding that the paper remove its blanket list of law-abiding CHL holders' personal information, apologize for their dangerous actions, and terminate the employment of Managing Editor Matt Westerhold.
Please contact the advertisers listed below with emails, letters, and phone calls. You may use the sample letter given below. Be sure to include your contact information and request that the advertiser reply so that you may let the OFCC community know about their intentions in this dedicated forum thread. OFCC assumes that no action taken on their part means that they support the Register's actions.
We must remember that polite and professional contact is the only way for us to make progress. Many people feel that anti-gun zealots like the Managing Editor of the Register purposely make their contact info available waiting for just one "bad apple" to contact them in a negative way so that they can paint the entire CHL community as irresponsible.
SAMPLE LETTER/EMAIL:
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am contacting you today as a concerned consumer. As you may or may not know, The Sandusky Register, of which your business supports with advertising, has committed a grievous and dangerous attack on thousands of citizens in Northwest Ohio. On June 26, Managing Editor Matt Westerhold and The Register decided to publish the personal information of every law-abiding citizen that has received a Concealed Handgun License. These licensed citizens have undergone state-mandated training, passed a rigorous background check, been fingerprinted, and have been studied in the legal responsibilities of carrying a handgun solely for the defense of themselves and their families.
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Written by Harry Bryan
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 |
Ohioans For Concealed Carry is organizing a response to the June 26 actions of The Sandusky Register and managing editor Matt Westerhold, after their recent decision to print blanket lists of Ohio CHL holders' names, age, and county of residence, from four northwest Ohio counties.
Jeff Garvas, President of OFCC, is in contact with other gun rights organizations to enlist their support and assistance. The organized response will include a letter writing campaign and a directed effort to communicate with the ad sponsors of the Register in order to educate them about the despicable and dangerous practice of of "outing" people who have undergone training, passed a rigorous background check, been fingerprinted, and received a Concealed Handgun License from their county sheriff.
Mr. Garvas has released a statement saying,
"Sandusky Newspapers Inc. and The Sandusky Register should immediately demand the resignation of managing editor Matt Westerhold for his role in putting the lives, homes, and lawfully-owned firearms of countless citizens in Northwest Ohio at risk of violence or theft."
"When newspaper management chooses to put a juicy headline controversy with no journalistic news worthy content ahead of the safety of the public, the only acceptable answer is to terminate their employment post haste."
"Ohioans For Concealed Carry and its supporters intend to send that
message to the owners of the paper by targeting advertisers and
encouraging them to pull advertising until this dangerous course of action is reversed and an apology is made to those citizens whose privacy has already been violated by the paper".
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has published an article reporting on the fact that many senior citizens choose to carry a handgun for personal defense. The account does a fair job of explaining two things. First, it describes how some senior citizens realize they are at a disadvantage to younger, faster, stronger criminals that prey on our streets. Second, it accurately depicts the illogical, elitist, and dangerous mentality of anti-gun zealots that want to tell a 75 year old woman that she shouldn't be able to protect herself effectively and should be left to duke it out with a 22 year old 6'2" 230 lb crack addict.
"You are out in a park, riding a bicycle trail and all of a sudden you're confronted by a drug addict who would kill you for $5," Geis [a licensed senior] said. "Are you going to sit there and say, 'Boy, I hope the police show up?'...
Seniors make up 40 percent to 50 percent of students at concealed-carry license certification classes at the Phoenix Center in Painesville, said Mike McKenney, who runs the 12-hour courses. Some are recent victims of violent crime, he said.
"An 87-year-old woman with a gun is equal to anybody," McKenney said...
Jeff Garvas, president of Ohioans for Concealed Carry, said seniors should consider carrying a gun because criminals can interpret their physical weakness as an opportunity. John R. Lott, author of the book "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws," said guns are a safer method of self-defense for seniors because they may run slower or have less strength...
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Written by Terry Jeffries
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
While we here in Ohio still have the right to keep and bear arms, our friends in Illinois appear to simply have the right to remain silent. Without our vigilance, we will eventually share their fate. This story can be found on the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA)website.
ISRA Press Release:
ISRA Asks Senator Kotowski to Explain State Police Infringements on First Amendment Rights of Illinois Gun Owners:
CHICAGO, June 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released
today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA):
The ISRA is expressing great concern over reports that Illinois State
Police (ISP) detectives have been visiting the homes of people who phoned
or faxed Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) to express opposition to gun
control legislation sponsored by the senator. The ISRA has recently
conducted a thorough investigation into one complaint, and is gathering
additional information on as many as several dozen other reported incidents
of police questioning citizens who have spoken out against gun control
legislation.
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Written by Jeff Garvas
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Friday, 15 June 2007 |
There is no doubt that Damon Wells, the Cleveland man forced to shoot a neighborhood punk in self-defense, is apprehensive and remorseful for his part in the ordeal. In testimony given in a hearing Thursday the Plain Dealer reported that Wells stared at the floor while recounting the ordeal.
In the end Arthur Buford's accomplice in the attempted robbery, Mardale Williams, was sent to adult court to face charges in his friend's death.
We learn from the testimony that Wells did everything he could to avert the situation. He tried to de-escalate the violence by telling the two thugs he recognized them from the neighborhood in an attempt to either earn some respect or create the fear that Wells could identify them later. Despite his efforts Bufford wouldn't back down.
Thats when Wells, pretending to go for his wallet, drew his concealed firearm and shot Bufford, who was within arms reach. Prosecutors state that Williams had already been involved in a number of robberies in the neighborhood and concluding that he was a part of this one isn't much of a stretch.
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Thursday, 14 June 2007 |
On June 14, both bodies of the Ohio General Assembly introduced necessary legislative bills that clarify self-defense laws and when it is justified for someone to protect their life or the lives of others.
Senator Steve Buehrer has put forth Senate Bill 184 and Representative Lynn Wachtmann has introduced House Bill 264. Both aim to bring a version of the nationally known Castle Doctrine to Ohio that self-defense rights activists have long worked towards. You may recall that very similar "Stand Your Ground" legislation was in the Ohio Assembly last year before the calendar expired and it was not moved upon.
The Castle Doctrine as introduced would bring two very important and necessary clarifications to Ohio law:
First, it states that the victim of a violent attack that was forced to defend himself/herself with justified means can not be pursued in civil court for any injuries suffered by the violent attacker. HB264 as written says:
A person who properly establishes the affirmative defense of self-defense or defense of another is not liable in damages to any person in a tort action for injury, death, or loss to person or property allegedly caused by the person while acting in self-defense or defense of another.
This is a long overdue attempt to legislate common sense in saying that someone who is about to kill or cause grave bodily harm can not sue for damages if they are injured while being stopped.
Second, both bills recognize a victim's right to self-defense if a violent attacker is forcibly breaking into your home or is about to cause death or serious injury anywhere the intended victim has a right to be. HB264 as written says:
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