Media continues writhing in agony over proposal to close loophole

As reported last week, Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) has proposed that House Bill 9, a piece of legislation which addresses public access to government records and which is endorsed by the Ohio Newspaper Association (ONA), be amended to close the Media Access Loophole, a provision which allows the media to access lists of concealed handgun license (CHL)-holders.

Hearings are now being held in a House Committee chaired by Seitz, and to hear the screams from Ohio's media, you'd think water has been poured on the Wicked Witch.

• Akron Beacon Journal: Conceal carriers?
• Chillicothe Gazette: Amendments inappropriate for records bill
• Columbus Dispatch: No concealment
• Lancaster Eagle Gazette: Records law falling prey to politics
• Warren Tribune Chronicle: Gun lists should be open to all
• Willoughby News-Herald: Public needs access to gun permit listThe main theme for these and other recent editorials (which are no doubt being directed by the ONA), is that a bill dealing with public records isn't the proper vehicle to deal with whether CHL records should be public.

  We didn't think Ohio House Bill 12, which is now our concealed handgun license law, was the vehicle for an 11th-hour debate on privacy-invasion either, but that didn't stop the ONA.

  Following are exerpts from several letters to these editors by OFCC's Ken Hanson.

  -----> [Your newspaper] is either willfully misleading their readership, or so
  hopelessly uninformed on the issues that they have no business editorializing on the subject. What vehicle would be more appropriate than a "compliance bill" to put a
  stop to the rampant abuses inflicted upon Ohio citizens by the press. What you are really saying is "How dare someone other than the media express an opinion on what should, and should not be, a public record?"

  -----> ...There have been repeated documented abuses by the media...blindly abusing this access by republishing lists of license holders in a thinly-veiled intimidation tactic, including one felonious act by an Ohio paper, wherein the home addresses of license holders were printed. Where was your call for accountability when one of your brethren violated felony law and victimized all of those people? What does the media claim anytime someone tries to take them to Court for some of that accountability they are talking about? "Freedom of the press."

  Hanson then turns his attention to the citizens of our state, and issues a call to action:

  -----> Keep in mind that Ohio media have fought mandamus actions to obtain access to names and addresses of minor children who attended public pools. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time to stand up against the illusory "right" of the press to gain access to each and every piece of
  paper that crosses a government desk, and tell the media that you do not
  need them doing a criminal's work for them.

  Rep. James Aslanides (R-Coshocton), the concealed carry bill's original sponsor, said in conference committee and during a short floor speech in January 2004 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.

  Aslanides can be reached at:
  Telephone: (614) 644-6014
  Fax: (614) 644-9494
  Email Address: [email protected]

  Sen. Steve Austria seconded this warning, adding that publishing the names of license-holders would be the exact kind of abuse they're referring to, since publishing these names would threaten the safety of the very men and women who have chosen to bear arms for self-defense.

  Austria can be reached at:
  Telephone: 614-466-3780
  [email protected]

  "I don't think we need to worry about journalists doing their job," state Sen. Marc Dann, a Youngstown area Democrat, told Mr. Aslanides.

  Dann can be reached at:
  Telephone: 614-466-7182
  [email protected]

  Rep. Scott Oelslager is the sponsor of the ONA's open records legislation.

  Oelslager can be reached at:
  Telephone: (614) 752-2438
  Fax: (614) 644-9494
  Email Address: [email protected]

  Don't forget to thank Rep. Bill Seitz for his actions to protect CHL-holders' privacy:

  Seitz can be reached at:
  Telephone: 614-466-8258
  Fax: 614-644-9494
  Email Address: [email protected]

  It is time, honorable legislators - it is past time.

  Related Stories: The Wicked Witch of the Ohio Media is Melting

  Lawmaker wants to close Media Access Loophole

  Double-standard: Privacy a right for everyone but law-abiding gun owners

  Op-Ed: If the media is watching Big Brother, who is watching them?