If Canadian criminals are smart enough, so are Ohio's

In its October 2005 issue, America's 1st Freedom magazine is reporting that Canadian MP Garry Brietkreuz has reason to believe that the country's $2 billion gun registry debacle is being used by criminals to target potential burglaries.

From the story:

"We know from reports to our office by individual firearms owners (particularly owners of registered handguns) that there may be as many as 19 suspicious thefts in the Edmonton area alone," [Brietkreuz] says. "Most of these reported thefts involved the theft of multiple handguns from each residence and were reported either to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Edmonton Police Service, or both."

In the police reports filed by the victims, specific mention has been made about their suspicions that the thieves may be obtaining personal and private information about the types of firearms they own from the firearms registry."

Before the media access loophole was inserted into the law by Governor Taft as an 11th hour poison pill, legislators in Ohio were warned that newspapers would abuse the law and publish entire lists of concealed handgun license-holders. They were also warned that such lists could then be exploited by criminals wishing to steal firearms, and that instances of criminals targeting particular locations they know to contain specific valuables (such as firearms), and staking out or casing residences to make sure no one is home, are common and well documented. But few listened...

The Akron Beacon Journal called this warning a "flimsy presumption", and Gannett News Columbus Bureau Chief Jim Siegel said warnings about the dangers of publishing the list of CHL-holders "elevate these criminals to a level of sophistication they very likely do not possess..." At the time, even Attorney General Jim Petro called such a scenario "a stretch".

More than a year after the law was passed, however, Mr. Petro, who has done an excellent job implementing Ohio's concealed carry law, seems to have realized there are indeed instances where a person's personal, private information should be kept from the media.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Petro, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2006, told OSU College Republicans this past April that Ohio law should allow for law-abiding citizens to be able to protect their private, personal status as CHL-holders from the media and from the public in general when a "demonstrated need" exists.

This is exactly what House Bill 347 would modify the media access loophole to provide for, and we look forward to having Mr. Petro's support!

As for the man responsible for the media access loophole, Governor Taft's office originally expressed opposition to what he had told by the media was an attempt in HB347 to remove the media access loophole, but backed down from early veto threats when it became clear the media was incorrectly reporting the nature of the change.

There is overwhelming evidence that criminals who want something specific are enterprising enough to figure out how to get it - some have even used Ohio newspapers to do so!