LTE: Restrictive concealed-carry law offers travelers in Ohio little help

May 19, 2005
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Stopping along the highway leaves anyone in peril. A Pennsylvania doctor, his wife and a relative stopped on the Ohio Turnpike to change drivers. A car pulled up behind their vehicle, and a man got out, demanding money. Then he shot and killed the doctor and drove off.

Had the doctor been armed, instead of retrieving his wallet for the robber, he might have retrieved his gun, shot the robber and be alive today. But even if he had been an Ohio doctor with a concealed-carry permit and a gun, he would still be dead! Why?

Thanks to the Highway Patrol, Ohio's concealed-carry law stipulates that the gun must be: a) holstered and visible to the patrolman, or b) in a locked glove compartment or locked box, or c) in the trunk.

Now, pray tell, just how can an Ohio CCW permit holder with a gun defend against robbery, rape, kidnapping or carjacking if his gun isn't readily accessible?

So the Highway Patrol (a fraction of 1 percent of the population) has decreed that the other 99-plus percent of Ohioans who travel the state's roads shall be unable to defend themselves.

The whole CCW law needs revision. It is too restrictive.

John J. Myers
Medina