Buckeyes for Concealed Carry President Uses Handgun to Defend Family

At approximately 7:00 pm Saturday night, Ohio State Students Joe and Amanda Smith were approached by a threatening white male near Westland Mall requiring Joe, Buckeyes for Concealed Carry on Campus President, to use his concealed handgun to defend himself, his wife Amanda, and their sixteen month old son Kyedin.

The threatening male approached their vehicle while Amanda was buckling Kyedin into his stroller and Joe was near the tailgate. He began making cat calls at Amanda as he closed in on her. Amanda and Joe asked him to leave them alone. Joe placed himself between his wife and the aggressor while a panicked Amanda began to remove Kyedin from the stroller and place him back into the vehicle. The male then became belligerent and began issuing threats to Joe.

"He just kept coming, no matter what I said. Then he told me he had a gun and had no problem killing all of us," said Joe. Joe instructed Amanda to call the police while he engaged the threat. "He kept saying he was going to kill us. He stopped short to answer his phone and told whoever it was where he was and to come help him get this 'white honky.'"

"I demanded he stop, but he didn't. When he was about fifteen feet away, I drew my handgun," Joe explained. "I was prepared to shoot, but didn't have to."

According to Joe, the aggressor stopped, raised his hands, and began apologizing. An older vehicle arrived, presumably with the aggressor's backup. He got into the vehicle and left.

"I was terrified," said Amanda. "I'm glad Joe had his gun. Who knows what would've happened if he didn't."

Deputy Zachary P. Cooper (#933) of the Franklin County Sheriff's office responded to Amanda's 911 call in approximately 7 minutes. Deputy Cooper told Joe "this is exactly why law abiding citizens can carry firearms. I'm a firm believer in it."

Ohio Students for Concealed Carry State Director Michael Newbern points out that "Joe was forced to defend himself with his handgun on a Saturday." Newbern added, "What if this incident occurred on a weekday when Joe and Amanda were going home from campus and he would have been disarmed by Ohio State policy?

"This is why Ohio Students for Concealed Carry and Buckeyes for Concealed Carry is suing Ohio State to bring the student code of conduct in line with Ohio Revised Code," he added.

Students for Concealed Carry is a nationwide non-partisan student organization. The group's sole mission is to restore the right of law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms on all public university campuses. The group works to accomplish this mission by educating the public, university officials, and lawmakers of the facts about campus carry and lobbying to remove the restrictions on campus carry from the laws of the state.