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What Were Your Reasons For Becoming Licensed? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Mike Kinsey   
Wednesday, 09 August 2006

Nearly 75,000 Ohio citizens have received a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) since Shall Issue CCW became law in 2004. All have done so after mandatory firearm training and accepting the legal and moral responsibilities of being licensed. However, the personal reasons why one chooses to pursue a CHL may vary. Some are a likely target for criminals due to their line of work. Some recognize the innate right to self defense guaranteed by the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions. For me, being recently married made me realize that I wanted to do everything in my power to protect those that I love. One brave woman in Middletown, Ohio has shared her reasons for seeking a license to carry a concealed handgun in an August 9th article in The Cincinnati Enquirer entitled “Victim Standing her Ground".
When Cathy Lindsey's youngest son handed her a .380-caliber pistol a year ago, he gave her a word of advice.

"It boils down to one thing," said Charlie Keith, an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq. "Kill or be killed. You have to fight for your life."

Twenty-three years after Lindsey was bound, tortured and raped by three men in her home while her three young children huddled behind a dresser, the 48-year-old grandmother is planning to do just that.
Two of Lindsey’s attackers are being released from prison at the end of this month, nearly five years early. They are expected to return to Middletown and may reside a couple miles from her home. One of those convicted is supposedly planning to stay with relatives a quarter of a mile away.

Lindsey is afraid that her attackers will follow through on threats they made years ago.
"They made it very clear if I told anyone, they would come back and kill me - and I told," she said.
Lindsey is proactively planning for their impending release. She takes self defense and martial art courses, trains weekly with firearms, and is applying for a license to carry a concealed handgun.

All legally licensed Ohioans have their own reasons for obtaining a CHL. Hopefully, more law-abiding citizens will do so in order to help prevent Ms. Lindsey’s reasons from becoming commonplace.