WARNING: False information in Plain Dealer story on Ohio campus victim zones

In an article that otherwise took a very balanced, healthy look at the problem of disarming adults on college campuses, the Cleveland Plain Dealer has published some factually incorrect information.

Be warned - following this information from the Cleveland Plain Dealer could get you arrested:

Ohio residents with a special permit have been allowed to carry concealed weapons in public since 2004. But that law bans guns from publicly owned property. That means state-run colleges like OSU, Ohio University and Kent State have state bans on guns.

Private schools such as Case Western Reserve University are not covered by state law. But in the instance of Case, the school has policies that ban guns.

The facts are these:

1) Contrary to what is asserted in the article, private schools such as Case Western are covered by state law (See R.C. 2923.126(B)(5)). A licensee may not carry anywhere on the property of a public or private college or university. State law renders students on ALL Ohio campuses totally defenseless, just as those at Virginia Tech were.

2) Ohio law does NOT ban concealed carry licensees from publicly owned property, as the article states. It bans them from publicly owned BUILDINGS. Licensees are allowed to carry on public property (See R.C. 2923.126(B)(9)).

Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair Ken Hanson has submitted a request that the Plain Dealer "at least correct the online version before this incorrect information spreads further than it has already."

UPDATE Friday, April 20: The Plain Dealer has published a correction, but has failed to modify their online story. As such, the erroneous information will continue to be disseminated on the Internet.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has an unfortunate history of omitting part of the story, or worse, of publishing factually incorrect information on gun-related matters, and the writers and editors continue to refuse to call organizations such as Buckeye Firearms Association to fact-check their content before publishing it: