Victim zone prohibitions fail to stop Ohio shootings

Wherever guns are banned, it can be assured that only criminals intent on harming others will possess guns. Should your right to self-defense stop at the door of a business that sells alcohol? Gun prohibitions in liquor establishments did NOTHING to help these victims:

Columbus, July 24, 2004: Accidental bump led to gunshots, victim says
When he thinks about what happened as he left a bar early yesterday, Matt Taylor said it’s like watching a movie, frame by frame.

Taylor said it was all so strange: His friend accidentally bumped into a man in the crowd leaving the bar. The bumped man and his buddy responded with colorful language. Then, as he and his friends walked away, the bumped man pulled a gun.

Three shots later, Taylor’s friend, Bradley Earnhart, crumpled to the sidewalk with his head bleeding, and Taylor stood beside him, his jeans soaked in his own blood.

Both seniors at Ohio State University, Taylor, 22, and Earnhart, 21, remain incredulous about how an accidental bumping in front of Old School, a bar at Lane Avenue and N. High Street, could lead to gunfire.

The two suspects in the shooting, Taban A. Cruz, 23, of 1409 Summit St., and Jonathan L. Bankston, 21, of 146 E. 7th Ave., have been charged with two counts of felonious assault.

This isn’t Bankston’s first brush with the law. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon in January 2002, but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of criminal mischief. He was convicted of a separate concealed-weapon charge in October 2002.

Dayton, July 20, 2004: 'Gentle giant' killed in shooting, Two others injured when shots fired outside Majestic Lounge
DAYTON | An argument at the Majestic Lounge bar led to a triple shooting Monday, killing a bar employee who tried to mediate the argument, police said.

Naamon Johnson Jr., 28, the manager, was found dead in the club's parking lot about 2:15 a.m. Johnson, also known as "Big Dog," was not involved in the argument other than trying to end it peacefully, homicide Sgt. Gary White said.

"A person who absolutely was trying to be a peace-keeper ends up getting killed," White said. "That's the sad part."

Johnson's death was the second homicide in that parking lot in three years. City officials have filed objections to the renewal of the bar's liquor permit, but those cases are pending, according to officials with the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Two other men were also shot when a man in the argument pulled a handgun and sprayed a crowd that gathered, White said. Those men were in critical condition at an area hospital, he said.

Several witnesses have identified the shooter, who had not been arrested late Monday, White said.

The argument involving three to four people started in the bar, 9 S. Halloway St. Johnson escorted those people outside, White said. A crowd formed as the argument continued in the parking lot. As Johnson attempted to mediate, the shooter walked away, then pulled a handgun and sprayed the crowd, White said.

Some witnesses told police the man continued to fire at the crowd after he got into a nearby car.