AGAIN: Senate goes round and round and back again

It's hard to believe the Ohio Senate just voted to return us to the same impass they created with HB274 just 6 months ago.

We have a new Senate President, and a new committee chairman. Thanks, in part, to the efforts of the OFCC PAC, the Senate Republican caucus won a super-majority last November. Two more states have become shall-issue right-to-carry states this spring, and Alaska's legislature passed a "Vermont-style" right-to-carry bill just last week, citing success with their existing right to carry law. HB12 passed out of the House with enough votes to override a veto - a 69-28 vote.

Over the past few months, OFCC has provided Senate committee members with a wealth of information which proved conclusively that added restrictions (the ones they just inserted) are absolutely not necessary, and in fact that many are unsafe. The Senate committee did not adopt a single suggestion or improvement made by OFCC. Yet, they adopted every conceivable amendment suggested by anti-self-defense extremists in our state, and most Senate Republicans concurred.

One principled conservative Republican stood out as the voice of reason in yesterday's Senate hearing. Lynn Wachtmann (R, Napoleon), said that one of the reasons he ran for office was to get to vote on a good concealed carry bill. But he told Senators a bad bill is not better than no bill. Wachtmann voted "no."

As was indicated by the announcement of our opposition to proposed changes before the vote, Ohioans For Concealed Carry agrees that no bill is better than a bad bill. The difficult question is, "what defines a bad bill?"

While that answer may be different for different people, the concensus at Ohioans For Concealed Carry is that Am. Sub. HB12 is not a bad bill, but a TERRIBLE bill in many respects. At a minimum, it is MORE restrictive than
current law.

For example, under current law, if you are arrested for CCW, or arrested for CCW in a motor vehicle, the law provides several affirmative defenses that can be used in court at trial. Under Sub HB 12, the only people that
qualify for an affirmative defense for carrying a firearm for self-defense in a vehicle are those with a protective order against someone. All others would require a CCW license and only then, the gun must be in plain sight,
unless you have minors in the car, then you have to lock it up. While existing law has serious flaws, it is clearly better than giving Ohioans NO legal option to protect themselves in a pinch.

Had lawmakers left all of the affirmative defenses in place, and also retained the right to carry for parents who want to protect their children, then Am. Sub. HB12 would have qualified as a bad bill, just not so terrible.

It is for these reasons which we believe House Representatives should vote against concurrence with the Senate amendments, and send the bill to a conference committee.

A coalition of nearly 50 businesses and tens of thousands of grassroots supporters (represented by several Ohio self-defense rights organizations and a conservative political group) endorsed HB12 as it left the House. Absolutely no self-defense rights groups in Ohio support the Senate's amendments.

What can you do to help?

1) Time is short. Call your Representative NOW and ask them NOT to concur with the Senate's restrictions, which succeed only in making current Ohio law WORSE than it already is.

2) Let the Ohio Republican Party know the damage Gov. Taft is working within the party's base.

Taft DOES have a boss, in a sense, outside of the people of the state of Ohio (whom he consistently ignores). He wants to seek higher office (on a national level). To do that, he must go through the Party. The Party needs to be shown the results from allowing Taft to continue on this path are beginning to damage their conservative base voters, threatening to create voter apathy and lower voter turnout.

Call your county Republican chairperson, and the party's precinct committeepersons. Let them know about your concerns, after what you've seen out of this monopoly by Republicans in Ohio. Tell them you want pro-self-defense conservatives nominated for office by the Party in the future.

Official website of the Ohio Republican Party

Ohio Republican Party county chairperson info

The Republican party was deeply concerned last election about the effect Taft's moderate stance would have on voter turnout. Other issues brought the party base to the polls, so it turned out not to be a factor. After Taft's anti-self-defense actions in the Ohio Senate, it is likely they should be much more concerned heading into 2004.