| Burden of Proof: Taft and Highway Patrol have no case against CCW |
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| Written by Jeff Garvas | |
| Tuesday, 25 February 2003 | |
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The Ohio Highway Patrol and Gov. Taft waited until HB274's eleventh hour to weigh in on HB274. After nearly two years of opportunity to voice concerns, the OHP announced last December that they would oppose any bill that allowed Ohioans their right to self-defense in a vehicle. Despite the glaring unconstitutionality of this proposed exclusion, and based on comments already made this session, we believe that Taft and the OHP will again fight to have the denial of self-defense rights in vehicles inserted into HB12. The burden of proof rests squarely on the OHP/ Taft's shoulders, and they will NEVER be able to deliver. There is NO evidence to support their assertion that law enforcement officers are put at risk by law-abiding citizens carrying concealed firearms in their car. There are no studies, even ones with twisted statistics, that draw this conclusion. How can that be? Because there is NO record of a law enforcement officers having been injured by a CCW permit holder during a traffic stop, anywhere in the 44 CCW states. We can, on the other hand, offer numerous examples of armed citizens coming to the aid of officers in peril. Click here for some of the many examples of how CCW promotes officer safety. |