Letters to the Editor: Number of applicants does not negate carry law

Several Dayton Daily News readers have responded to a narrow-minded, uninformed rant from DDN columnist Martin Gottlieb, in which he attempted to make the case that because about 1% of eligible Ohioans have obtained licenses in the first nine months, that support for Right to Carry laws are a "narrow interest". In each case, the writers prove to have far more of an understanding than this journalist about how concealed carry reform actually works.

Number of applicants does not negate carry law

Re "99.5 percent ignore new gun law," March 4: I have a couple of questions/comments. Columnist Martin Gottlieb's anti-gun bias has blinded him and invalidated his opinion on several levels.

Since when does a right of the individual rightly fall victim to a majority opinion? The percentage of people applying for permits in no way negates the existence of the right.

Gottlieb's argument is similar to the early arguments — after the passage of the 19th Amendment — that voting results proved that women really didn't want to vote or more would have voted. If only 50 percent of eligible women registered to vote in the 1920 elections, it proved that women didn't want or deserve their right protected.

I would ask that the Dayton Daily News push for the publication of the personal information of every person who applies for a passport, a driver's license, a marriage license, etc. Since it's good to expose and threaten the safety of any CCW holder, it will be equally good for the rest of society also.

Mark Brunner
Weirton, WV

Concealed carry lets people protect themselves

I have two problems with Martin Gottlieb's editorial, "99.5 percent ignore new gun law," March 4. First, the title grabs the attention of the anti-gun community by insinuating that gun owners are breaking the law.

Second, Gottlieb tries to state that the citizens of Ohio have not been interested in this concealed carry law. The main reason for the "lack of interest" in this law is the fact that the law, as written, is very limiting and vague about the rules for legally carrying a concealed handgun in one's car. Page 13 of the state-issued concealed carry booklet states the gun must be on your person and in plain sight and that the term "plain sight" has not yet been defined by the Ohio Supreme Court. Ohio's concealed carry law puts a license holder at risk for being arrested for violating a rule that has yet to be defined.

Gottlieb could have researched the statistics from other states that do not have such vague rules and found that the numbers in those states are higher. Vague laws or not, the concealed carry law allows law-abiding citizens to carry a gun and use deadly force to protect themselves. We should all be grateful our state government had the sense to let us do that.

Greg Foley
Centerville

Gun law is crime deterrent

Please do not be fooled by Martin Gottlieb's faulty logic and stale liberal agenda ("99.5 percent ignore new gun law," March 4). As many people know, having a concealed carry law on the books benefits everyone by serving as a proven deterrent to violent crime.

In states that have adopted such laws, violent crime was reduced by about 15 percent. In states without such laws, violent crime increased about 15 percent during the same time period. It is no surprise that informed citizens and lawmakers would move to enact such a law.

Hopefully, they will not be duped into using Gottlieb's measure to evaluate the law's effectiveness.

F. Douglas Holcombe
Vandalia