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Written by Jeff Garvas
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Thursday, 26 April 2007 |
A few days ago a somewhat emotional article in the Plain Dealer implied that because someone used a gun in Cleveland to defend themselves the "whole debate" over concealed carry was re-ignited. Today, the Plain Dealer focused on what is more likely to happen due to the highly publicized self-defense shooting.
From today's Plain Dealer, Who's carrying a gun? Almost anyone may be
If anything, the author's choice of title reflects that the purpose of carrying a firearm concealed has finally been recognized.
Now, more than ever, there's a chance the people around you have guns.
They're armed as you walk through the aisles of supermarkets. Armed as you take your child on a walk. Armed in traffic as you drive to work.
Nearly 90,000 Ohioans have concealed-carry permits. Now the recent shooting by a permit holder of a 15-year-old robber, coupled with new gun laws, could drive more people to obtain permits, gun advocates and trainers say.
In recent days the Cleveland Plain Dealer has printed numerous stories and letters to the editor about firearms, concealed carry, and college carry. Finally, and for the most part, those articles have been surprisingly fair, balanced, and carry less knee jerk emotional rhetoric.
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Wednesday, 25 April 2007 |
While firearm rights activists in Ohio are well aware of the fact that The Cleveland Plain Dealer has historically not been a friend to gun owners, Ohioans For Concealed Carry would like to give credit where it is due. As a follow-up to a story about a justified self-defense shooting that was reported on this website, the Plain Dealer has published two very fair columns regarding the incident and CCW in general. Damon Wells, a Concealed Handgun License Holder was forced to defend his life from Arthur Buford, an armed robber already on probation.
Most notably, the first of these articles quoted below was penned by the newspaper's Deputy Editorial Director.
The Legal Gun Won This Fight
...Arthur's relatives and friends are upset that the law isn't going after Wells.
They want someone to blame - other than Arthur. But they shouldn't be allowed to bully the police or the city administration into taking action against a guy who was minding his own business on his own porch when suddenly confronted by an armed teenager.
Then there's the conceptual side of the argument - the big-picture side that says citizens shouldn't be allowed to have guns and certainly shouldn't be allowed to walk around with them.
This kind of incident proves knee-jerk gun foes wrong, and they know it.
"This is one of the few where they actually used it [a legally carried concealed weapon] to stop a crime," Toby Hoover of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence grudgingly told a Plain Dealer reporter.
But there are more than a few such cases. There are thousands every year, all over the country.
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Written by Jeff Garvas
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
Since the adoption of concealed carry in Ohio Cleveland's Regional Transit Authority, and Toledo's equivalent, have put signs on their buses and claimed that carrying a firearm on a bus was prohibited. Prior to March 14th when carrying a firearm in a motor vehicle required it to be "in plain sight" made it somewhat hard to "get away" with the act.
Cities have no authority to prohibit concealed carry by the general public in a motor vehicle. They can prohibit their employees, however, through a non-criminal employer rule that risks termination.
Time and time again we're asked "Why do you want to carry a gun There?" and the answer is because you simply never know when you might need a firearm to defend yourself. Last Friday, in the once "safe" suburb of Garfield Heights, an eighteen and twenty year old involved in some kind of altercation left an RTA bus near the Turney Rd. fire station, or the intersection of Turney & McCracken Rd.
According to published reports the eighteen year old shot and killed the twenty year old in a nearby parking lot with a firearm he clearly had been carrying on the RTA bus the whole time. He fled the scene only to be apprehended later.
Despite the fact that neither man should have had a handgun under Ohio law due to their age this case highlights the fact that no matter how safe you think an area might be the potential for deadly violence exists everywhere.
Those of us who choose to be prepared to defend our lives are not paranoid, but merely taking responsibility for our own self-defense.
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Written by Jeff Garvas
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Monday, 23 April 2007 |
Damon Wells, a concealed handgun licensee from the Cleveland area, will not be charged with a crime after using his firearm to defend his life this past weekend. Prosecutors in Cleveland have decided that the 25 year old was justified and acted in self-defense.
Despite the Plain Dealer calling this the first time a criminal has died at the hands of a concealed handgun license holder in Ohio we believe it is the third case. The first took place in Warren, Ohio when a pizza shop owner was ambushed in an abandoned home. The second took place in Hamilton County when a license holder shot and killed a young teen who was stealing or carjacking his car.
In this most recent case two teenagers in the Kinsman area approached Wells Saturday on his porch and drew a gun. Well responded with deadly force, sending one of the teens running and the other stumbling to his untimely demise.
The deceased attempting to hold Wells up was just fifteen years old. Mayor Frank Jackson's gun control did nothing to disarm Arthur Buford, and nothing to protect Damon Wells.
Ironically, opponents of concealed carry such as Toby Hoover are looking past the fact that fifteen year old Buford pointed a loaded gun at someone and threatened their life and trying to begrudge the fact that concealed carry saved a life in this case. From cleveland.com:
Toby Hoover, of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, said she had not heard of any other fatal shooting involving a concealed-carry permit holder,
"This is one of the few where they actually used it to stop a crime," Hoover said.
But, she said, "there's still a dead kid here."
To follow Toby's logic you'd have to come to the conclusion that a fifteen year old "kid" surviving a robbery he started is somehow superior to the idea that a law abiding 25 year old contributor to society survived with his life.
A life where he will have to deal with the fact that, in a split second decision, he was forced to choose between the life of a fifteen year old thug and that of his own.
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Monday, 23 April 2007 |
A Tennessee House Panel recently voted to send legislation to the floor of the Legislature that would allow licensed citizens to carry a concealed handgun on property owned by state, county, and city governments. This will include government owned buildings. Similar to Ohio, Tennessee law arbitrarily bans self-defense in those areas.
The proposed legislation was penned by Republican Representative Frank Nicely. Its original intent was to allow legal concealed carry on State Park property. In a refreshing move, Representative Rob Briley (D-Nashville) was quoted as saying, "We've been piecemealing this thing year after year. Why don't we just let you take your gun anywhere you want to?" Rep. Briley then proposed an amendment broadening the initial draft to include all state, county, and city property... including buildings.
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Written by Jeff Garvas
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Thursday, 19 April 2007 |
According to published news reports Butler County Ohio Sheriff Richard Jones is calling on the Ohio Legislature to mandate armed personnel in every Ohio school. We're not talking about college campuses, we're talking about every imaginable school including grade schools, private schools, and parochial schools.
Kudos to Sheriff Jones for going out on a limb and making such a controversial demand as an elected Sheriff. Forward thinking members of school boards have been shamed into resignation for making such a controversial statement, let alone a call to pass it into law!
In a state where School Funding is a constitutional hot potato that has been thrown back and forth between the Ohio Supreme Court and the Ohio Legislature the chances of funding such a mandate are slim to none.
The most cost effective and easily implemented solution is to pass legislation, possibly in the form of an emergency, that revokes every restriction on law abiding citizens licensed to carry a firearm from entering these facilities. Today adults twenty-one years and older including older students, faculty, and staff at major universities are prohibited from taking a firearm past the parking lot. Those who live on campus can't have firearms in most cases.
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Monday, 16 April 2007 |
Today is truly a sad day due to the tragedy that took place earlier as the quiet campus of Virginia Tech reverberated with gunfire. The shootings began about 7:15 AM and continued for several hours before the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, took his own life. The death toll stands at thirty-two and there are a large number of students and faculty who were wounded. It is reported that the gunman went from classroom to classroom shooting faculty and students. According to accounts, the gunman carried both a 9mm and .22 caliber handgun. He appears to have also carried several magazines of ammunition.
One student reported that the gunman entered their classroom and shot their teacher before firing at students who remained in their seats. The witness said that he and others in the room dropped to the floor and overturned their desks to protect themselves from the gunfire.
This stands as the worst shooting incident on a university campus in U.S. history. The worst shooting prior to this incident was in 1966 when Charles Whitman went to the clock tower on the University of Texas and began a 90 minute shooting spree that left sixteen people dead before he was killed by a law enforcement officer.
While the nation mourns this immense loss of innocent life, we must realize that two ways exist for looking at these terrible events. The manner that we choose will dictate how to best move forward. I wonder which will prevail:
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Written by Mike Kinsey
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Sunday, 15 April 2007 |
I was fortunate enough to accompany OFCC President Jeff Garvas to the 136th NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits this past weekend in St. Louis, Missouri. Joanna, my beautiful and gun-loving wife also joined me. How lucky can one guy be? While extremely tiring, we were able to attend informative and inspirational seminars, meet personally with key NRA staff to discuss pertinent Ohio issues, and walk in complete awe through acres of firearm exhibits and vendor booths that made up the largest convention of any kind that St. Louis has ever hosted. This was my first NRA Convention and I can tell you that it certainly won't be my last! I urge any freedom-loving American that has not yet attended this wonderful event to do so at their earliest convenience. Luckily for Ohioans, the 2008 Convention will be held on May 16-18 in nearby Louisville, Kentucky. All NRA members and their immediate family are not charged general admission.
Before I continue with a more detailed recap of the weekend's activities, I do need to fulfill a promise.
Jeff and I were lucky enough to share a few minutes with NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre at Saturday night's Annual Members' Banquet. We were able talk with Mr. LaPierre about OFCC's recent win in the appeal against Clyde, OH. As soon as I handed him my business card and mentioned that we represented OFCC, he looked me straight in the eye and said, "Ohioans For Concealed Carry? You guys have been doing great work in Ohio. We're very proud. Make sure to tell your members how much we appreciate all that they do for the Second Amendment. We're all in this together." Needless to say, each and every one of you should feel very proud of your individual efforts that have yielded our recent successes in Ohio. Wayne LaPierre, the NRA, and OFCC sincerely thank you!
Now, on to what I hope can be a full report to our loyal members and supporters... |
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Written by Daniel White
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Saturday, 14 April 2007 |
OFCC's appeal of our loss in the Clyde Case has been successful!
In a very straightforward decision, the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals ruled that, "due to the passage of H.B. 347, we reverse and instruct the trial court to enter summary judgment in favor of appellants" on Friday, April 13, 2007.
The road to this victory was long and hard. The City of Clyde Ohio passed a ban on concealed carry in its public parks soon after HB 12 went into effect. Ohioans For Concealed Carry sued the City, arguing that the ban was a violation of Section 9 of HB 12, which stated that the intent of the Ohio legislature was to enact HB 12 as a general law and to preempt attempts of local municipalities to further restrict the places a person with a concealed handgun license could carry their firearm. An injunction against enforcing the ordinance was granted while the case is adjudicated.
After Bruce Beatty's case against Toledo was lost, the judge in Clyde Ruled against OFCC based on that decision. OFCC immediately filed an appeal, and the injunction was kept in force. Then Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro filed a brief to intervene on OFCC's behalf, asking the court to reverse the lower court's decision.
In the Sixth District's ruling, they noted that Beatty's loss was partially dependent upon the determination that Ohio's concealed carry law was not a general law. In the appeal, two arguments were raised challenging this assertion, that the court errored in ruling that ORC 2923.126 was not a general law, and that the court erred in determining that Ohio's ccw law does not preempt Clyde's ordinance banning all firearms in city parks.
The court notes that during this appeal, HB347 passed and specifically codified preemption into the Ohio Revised Code, and that the next section "supra indicates the Ohio Legislature's clear intent that the concealed carry laws have general and uniform operation throughout Ohio."
The result?
"Therefore, Clyde Codified Ordinance 2004-41 is pre-empted by R.C. 9.68 and 2923.126, and summary judgment must be entered in appellants' favor. Appellants' assignments of error are well-taken."
Now that Clyde has been indisputably won, we will investigate how this judgment will affect the recent challenge the City of Cleveland has made to statewide preemption. It is a good day for Ohio gun owners.
Read the full decision here |
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Written by Daniel White
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Friday, 13 April 2007 |
Lorain County has become the latest to file suit seeking to overturn Ohio's Media Access Loophole, according to a story in The Chronicle-Telegram.
County Sheriff Phil Stammitti sued Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann on Wednesday, asking a county judge to declare unconstitutional a 2004 state law that requires Stammitti to provide the names of those who apply for concealed carry permits to journalists.
The lawsuit also asks the court to determine whether Ohioans for Concealed Carry President Jeff Garvas, who also is named in the suit, is a journalist.
Clermont County, Mercer County, and Erie County have already filed suits, with Mercer County already deciding that the information could be released to just about anyone.
OFCC will continue to work with the legislature and courts in our two-pronged approach to getting this discriminatory and potentially dangerous loophole closed.
Unlike in the past, this time, we appear to have the Governor backing us up:
Dann’s office had no comment on the lawsuit and Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey also declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit. But Dailey said Strickland opposes allowing anyone — including journalists — to review who has a permit.
"The governor’s a strong supporter of the right to bear arms," Dailey said.
Related stories:
OFCC Raises Awareness of Media Access Loophole
Ohio Sheriffs Challenging Journalist Exception |
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