CHL-holder moves in - 70 neighbors voice concerns
IMPORTANT NOTE: The following parody was adapted from a recently-published Ohio news story about the newly-created sex offenders registry, and reaction from neighbors to the knowledge of their presence (the original story may be accessed by clicking here). Very few words were changed.
Since some rotten apples among liberal news editors are promising to public the lists of CHL-holders, and since gun ban extremists like Toby Hoover are encouraging people not to "hire, socialize, or share public space with those who carry hidden guns", could stories like this about those who exercise their right to choose to bear arms for self-defense be far off?
Summer, 2004
ANYWHERE, OH - It was not, as is usual, the local newspaper that initially notified residents of Smith Lane in the Jane Doe Estates that a 43-year-old man with a concealed handgun license (CHL) lives with his father on their street.
The first notification came from the license-holder's father. On Tuesday last week, he put a handwritten card into neighbors' mailboxes, explaining the situation and providing his address and phone number in case anybody had questions.
Residents were alarmed, and a local Councilman reports that he returned home at 10 that night to find his voice mail filled up and his phone still ringing off the hook.
On Saturday afternoon, about 70 residents of the neighborhood attended a special meeting at City Hall to discuss a CHL-holder coming to live in their neighborhood after going through 12 hours of training to receive his CHL.
On hand to field questions and give advice were the city's Police Chief, Safety Director, a police detective who handles homicide cases, the Mayor, Council President and Law Director.
Also there to address the crowd was the father. His son couldn't be there because he was due to arrive home the next day.
The councilman said that while the legal system has branded this man as a dangerous armed citizen, information shows that he's not a guy who goes out looking for trouble.
Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.
When residents were given that information, he said, nobody was happy about that, either. "But it's not like he ever shot up a school. And in most cases, it's not a stranger who is harmed - gun violence happens in the home by a father or a stepfather, or by an aunt or an uncle or some family member."
In response to public concern, the councilman scheduled a meeting for this week to organize 15 people who have volunteered to start a block-watch program.
He is also going to schedule a meeting in which parents can bring their children to hear advice from police officers.
Residents were saying, "How do we explain this to our kids? What do we say about this to our children?', he said. So, I'm trying to schedule the two DARE officers to talk to the children.
The CHL-holder spoke with the local newspaper this week and said he recognizes that Ohio's new concealed carry law gives people in his neighborhood the right to be informed about him. He said that since the newspaper would have printed his name anyway, he and his father decided the neighbors also should know about his extensive training efforts.
"I take full responsibility for my actions," he said. "It's really sad. I had a wonderful relationship with my neighbors, and this negative publicity has done a lot of damage. But I also need to think about protecting my family from carjackers, rapists, robbers, and other violent offenders who are ravaging our city's defenseless citizens."
"All I want to do is the best I can to be protective," he added. "I'm not out there to harm anyone. All I'm asking for is a fair chance to start working and start providing for my family.
"I have a son, and I want to be able to provide for him and to protect him. The bottom line is, I'm trying to be responsible for my actions and to do the right thing here. All I'm asking is that our family have a chance to protect ourselves and move on with our lives."
About the reaction of people in his neighborhood, he said, "I understand that people are afraid. I don't know what I can do about that. If they want to speak to me about this, I'm willing to speak to them."
At the meeting Saturday, officials distributed copies of his training certificate. They wanted to distribute his private medical records, but were prohibited from doing so by Federal law (HIPAA).
"I'm 2,000 percent certain that my son would never harm anyone. I would stake my life on it, I really would. And if I didn't believe that and my wife didn't, then he wouldn't be here," the CHL-holder's father said.
The councilman noted that a check of the County Sheriff's records, which lists nearly 2,000 CHL-holders, includes two female licenseholders living in his ward, as well as others around the city.
Related Stories:
(As this Zogby poll indicates, most Americans, even those who do not own guns, are in favor of concealed carry. So perhaps it's only the liberal media and the vocal minority of gun ban extremists that we really have to worry about. The following stories lend to the idea that the parody above is by no means a far-off stretch of the imagination):
Rotten Apples and Sour Grapes: Ohio's Liberal Media Rant
Letter to the Editor: Should we publish lists of HIV-infected persons?
Deja vu all over again: ''Million'' Mommer trying to scare businesses with op-ed
Gun prohibitionists seek traction in Akron businesses
Feds more concerned with right to privacy than state bureaucrats?
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