FOP spokesman: Blatant disregard for the TRUTH
by Chad D. Baus
One would think someone in the position of being spokesman for thousands of law enforcement officers in this state would try, at least a tiny bit, get his facts straight.
But Mike Taylor, spokesperson for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, embarrasses the people he is handsomely paid to represent every time he opens his mouth about concealed carry reform, making statements that are not only inaccurate, but patently (and intentionally?) false.
In a story published in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, the Mansfield News Journal, the Newark Advocate and the Coshocton Tribute this week (all four papers are owned by Gannett's "Newspaper Network of Central Ohio"), Mike Taylor is quoted as saying that the fifth affirmative defense clause, present in HB12 as introduced this month (and in HB274 as passed by the House last session), would "open the door for felons to carry weapons around."
Is Mike Taylor THAT ignorant of the laws regarding firearms ownership in this country, and this state? Is the entire FOP leadership?
Under HB12, anyone caught with a concealed gun but without a permit can use as a legal defense that they would have been eligible for a license had they applied. This provision would absolutely not override the multitude of laws in this land which forbid felons from owning or being in the possession of a firearm in the first place.
To say otherwise is ignorant blather at best, and intentionally dishonest rhetoric at worst. Is this what we should expect from the leadership Fraternal Order of Police?
After offering absolutely no suggestions or amendments in the past two years, the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, a labor union, lobbied successfully at the eleventh hour to severely weaken the legislation. Click here to email your thoughts to the Ohio FOP spokesman Mike Taylor, and click here to email your thoughts to the Ohio FOP President Nick DiMarco. And when the FOP calls your home during a meal, asking for donations, remind them of their actions against concealed carry reform in Ohio.
Do you live in the distribution area of these papers? If so, well written & brief letters to the editors can be sent to all three papers: [email protected] (Mansfield News Journal)
[email protected] (Lancaster Eagle Gazette)
[email protected] (Coshocton Tribute)
You may recall that the Zanesville Times Recorder (yet another Gannett sister paper) printed a letter from Ohioans For Concealed Carry last November about the same organization: "FOP has undue influence on gun legislation".
Click here to read the full story in the Lancaster Gazette.
Click here for the full story in the Mansfield News Journal.
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