Ohio sheriffs urge citizens to obtain concealed handgun licenses to protect against terror

Dayton's WHIO (AM 1290) is reporting that two Ohio county sheriffs took to Twitter in the hours after news of the attack in San Bernadino, CA to urge Ohioans to obtain concealed handgun licenses.

From the article:

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones in a Twitter exchange called on people to get a conceal and carry permit.

“I have said it in the past and I said it (Wednesday) , people should get their conceal and carry permit and carry a gun where permitted. You don’t want to be that person hiding under the desk or in a closet waiting for someone to come rescue you. It may be too late.”

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer agrees.

“I encourage all law abiding citizens to get Conceal Carry Permits,” he said. “I think it’s so important that we’re turning around the permits in 24 hours. We have to arm ourselves and protect ourselves because they’re killing our families. Let’s be honest, the people who are doing this are criminals.”

The article also reports on a class the Kettering, OH police department offers to the community and businesses on how to deal with active killer attacks.

“There really isn’t a place they haven’t occurred. Malls, churches, schools, theaters, and these are mostly common public areas,” [Lt. Daniel' Gangwer said. “So everybody at some time or another is going to be in a public area. Any kind of knowledge they can get of what should I do should it occur on the day I’m at that location is probably pretty valuable to them.”

Law enforcement in other parts of the country are also urging citizens to arm themselves to protect against terror.

In Detroit, police chief James Craig says he believes the fear that armed citizens would return fire serves as a deterrent for a potential terrorist attack in Motor City.

Craig called more officers to duty and moved some to locations deemed higher priorities following the attacks in Paris.

But he also noted “a lot of Detroiters” have concealed pistol licenses and “the same rules apply to terrorists as they do to some gun-toting thug.”

“If you’re a terrorist, or a carjacker, you want unarmed citizens,” Craig said.

In New York, Ulster County Sheriff Paul J. Van Blarcum used Facebook to urge licensees to carry.

ATTENTION LICENSED HANDGUN OWNERS

In light of recent events that have occurred in the United States and around the world I want to encourage citizens of Ulster County who are licensed to carry a firearm to PLEASE DO SO.

I urge you to responsibly take advantage of your legal right to carry a firearm. To ensure the safety of yourself and others, make sure you are comfortable and proficient with your weapon, and knowledgeable of the laws in New York State with regards to carrying a weapon and when it is legal to use it.

I also want to remind all Police/Peace Officers both active duty and retired to please carry a weapon whenever you leave your house. We are the thin blue line that is entrusted in keeping this country safe, and we must be prepared to act at any given moment.

In Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is urging nearly a quarter-million licensees in his state to fight terrorism and mass shooters.

On Tuesday, the so-called "Toughest Sheriff in America" said he cannot guarantee the public's safety and called on them to take matters into their own hands if necessary.

"I'm just talking about the areas where you have large crowds and someone pulls out the gun and starts shooting. Maybe somebody with a concealed weapon takes the guy down," Arpaio said.

Specifically, Arpaio was looking to the 250,000 Arizonans who carry concealed weapons permits to help keep the peace.

Meanwhile, President Barack Hussein Obama, even while admitting that "we don't that know much yet" about the attack in San Bernadino, took to the microphones to suggest that violating due process by preventing persons on the no-fly list from purchasing guns would stop such attacks, only to have it reported in the news later that the attackers have traveled to one or more Middle Eastern countries (and therefore clearly were NOT on the no-fly list).

Other gun control proposals that Obama frequently suggests as preventative measures against such attacks are already in place in California.

• It has been illegal to purchase a so-called "assault rifle" in California since 1989.
• It is illegal to purchase a magazine that holds more than ten rounds.
• California has a ten-day waiting period to purchase a firearm.
• California has a one-handgun per month law.
• it is illegal for any private party to sell or transfer a firearm to another private party unless the sale is completed through a licensed California firearms dealer.
• Family members have a legal process to temporarily bar their relatives from getting guns if the family sees the member as unstable.
• Persons wishing to purchase a firearm must have earned a state-issued "Handgun Safety Certificate" for legal firearms purchasing.
• Persons wishing to purchase a handgun must also "successfully perform a safe handling demonstration with a handgun being purchased or acquired.
• Open carry of a firearm, loaded or unloaded, is illegal in California.
• All guns bought in California legally "must be accompanied with a firearms safety device (FSD) that has passed required safety and functionality tests and is listed on the DOJ’s official roster of DOJ-approved firearm safety devices."
• Obtaining a license to carry is extremely difficult. Only around 70,000 such licenses exist statewide, with around 29 million adults in the state.

Buckeye Firearms Association provides a list of Ohio concealed handgun license instructors that is searchable by county or zip code.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.