Rotten Apples and Sour Grapes
Some just sound like losers. Others sound like sore losers. And OFCC has learned that at least three of Ohio's liberal media outlets are already planning to violate the spirit and intent of the public records provision.
For anyone who wonders after reading the below, it IS possible for a newspaper to write an objective editorial, and we'd like to thank the Steubenville Herald Star and the Lima News.
Sour Grapes:
Akron Beacon Journal
"Bob Taft and state lawmakers salute the gun lobby. They have invited more weapons on the street. The easier it is to get and carry a handgun, the more likely there will be accidental shootings and arguments that turn into fatal encounters."
Chillicothe Gazette/ Mansfield News Journal (both Gannett newspapers)
"Even with training, nervous citizens are more likely to shoot someone by accident than prevent a crime."
Cincinnati Post
"The concealed carry bill that cleared the Ohio General Assembly Wednesday rests on a compromise that is downright ugly. There's not much point complaining about it, since Gov. Bob Taft has already announced that he looks forward to signing the bill." The editorial that follows is 659 words of complaint.
Dayton Daily News:
Taft sold out good government
This week a LONG, POLARIZING, CONTENTIOUS debate in the Legislature ended in a sorry result. Ohio is going to allow the carrying of concealed weapons, and state government is creating a new class of "public" records, records that will be available to journalists, but not ordinary citizens. Under the legislation, journalists are presumed worthy and citizens are not." And in the DDN editorial, citizens in 45 other states are presumed worthy to bear arms for self-defense, while Ohio's law-abiding citizens are not.
and
Legislators chip away at open government
"Then came the sellout of open government and ordinary citizens in the "concealed-carry" legislation Gov. Taft just signed."
and
Gun law conceals its danger
"Under the law signed by Gov. Bob Taft on Jan. 8 — a day after the legislature sent it to him — the public is not allowed to know who has obtained a permit. Not former spouses, not employers, not even government watchdogs who might ensure that dangerous people aren't getting guns. Only news media will be allowed access to that information."
Gannett News Service
"Reporters may have access, but apparently they have to be careful how they use their special privilege, or the big bad legislature is going to take that access away." For details on what this Gannett reporter plans to do with the records, click here.
Lorain Morning Journal:
Concealed guns soon will be legal on Ohio streets, God help us
"Allowing concealed guns on Ohio's streets is a huge step downward in the quality of life for the people of Ohio."
and
Speak up, narrow turf where concealed guns can be carried in Ohio
"...They say ''money talks,'' so gun foes should be sure to tell managers of stores that they'll only patronize gun-free establishments."
Middletown News Journal
"It’s disappointing that Ohio lawmakers — and now Taft — have submitted to the powerful gun lobby — at the expense of Ohioans’ welfare and lives."
Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune
"[The public records] portion of the soon-to-be law concealed carry law should be challenged in court. A compromise on the gun issue could have been reached without generating a new controversy. But our legislators did not choose that course." Uh...sorry, but it was Bob Taft who chose the course which brought us here.
Toledo Blade:
Legally armed and dangerous
"Suddenly Ohio was the Wild West with every man, woman, and child for himself. Only the ability to carry hidden weapons would save the masses from dangerous gunslingers on the prey. How absurd."
and
Ohioans held hostage by the Republicans
"Carrying a handgun in a purse or holstered under a jacket is unnecessary and not in the public welfare."
Rotten Apples (that definitely spoil the bunch!)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Very well concealed
"Since Taft chooses to hide behind journalists on this vital public-records matter, it is this newspaper's intention to obtain this information and publish it. Our readers deserve to know the identities of those who obtain permits to carry their guns in public. We hope other news organizations will do the same in their communities."
and
We will reveal those who conceal
"The ones who need protecting aren't the folks who tuck a Glock under their armpit every time they step out to walk the dog or buy a quart of milk. [We] can't help thinking that folks who carry concealed weapons aren't the ones quoting Gandhi." Well, actually, we DO enjoy Gandhi - 'Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.' Gandhi, in his autobiography, My Experiments with Truth.
and
PD editor now blogs - first entry responds to new concealed carry law
"The "how to reach us" box on 2A lists e-mail addresses and phone numbers for senior editors and similar information appears at the bottom of every staff produced story. Those devices make the communication more personal and more immediate. Some times it's so personal and so immediate you can feel its heat. In the last week or so most of the heat was generated by gun rights advocates who took exception to our announced intent to publish the names of those licensed to carry a concealed weapon." What Clifton didn't tell you is that he's not just feeling the heat at work. Other people have blogs too.
and
Concealing weapons & records
"When Gov. Bob Taft agreed to sign a concealed-carry bill this month that banned access to permit records for everyone except journalists, he "split the baby" in a way no state had done before, said Luis Tolley of the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence."
Columbus Dispatch:
Concealed Truths
"The task of monitoring how well this law is administered and how well it works has fallen to those newspapers and other media whose staffs meet the the law’s definition of journalist. Academic and public-policy researchers, unfortunately, will not have access to this information unless it is provided to them by the media. Newspapers will serve the public well if they publish the names and any other pertinent details that they can find about those Ohioans who receive concealed-carry permits."
and
Common sense was checked at the door when gun bill was passed
"Many people who become criminals do not intend to commit a crime. Normal temperance can be overcome by circumstance and emotion, making a gun lawfully hidden under a shirt or in a purse potentially deadly to everyone around, whether by intent, momentary lapse in judgment or accident."
and
Concealed-carry law wrongly limits release of permit-holders’ names
"A constitutional challenge to this provision is virtually guaranteed."
OFCC has also learned that the Athens News and Elyria Chronicle Telegram's editorial boards have voted, and plan to print the names of licensees.
Rep. James Aslanides (R-Coshocton), the bill's sponsor, said in conference committee and during a short floor speech that he would lead an effort to roll back the media access if the "privilege" is abused. "If they abuse the privilege, we can cause them to lose the privilege," he declared, pointing out that the Pennsylvania Legislature struck a similar provision after a newspaper published a list of permit holders.
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