Abject failure: Ohio's CCW Ban not working to deter crime

YOUNGSTOWN - Greg White looks at the bar graph and just shakes his head.

He is appalled at what he sees: the number of homicides in Mahoning County that involve guns, mostly in Youngstown, is staggering. That's why White, the new U.S. attorney for Ohio's Northern district, today announced a concerted effort to get guns and their users off the street.

"I have every confidence we can change this graph," he said.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

White calls the effort the Violence and Gun Reduction Interdiction Program, or VGRIP. He pledges to use the federal courts and their stiffer sentences to prosecute offenders in the city's highest crime areas, particularly on gun charges.

"We have to keep these people off the streets, [out of] the neighborhoods," White said.

The reason: Mahoning County had more than triple the number of homicides attributed to firearms per 100,000 people compared with anywhere in the state between 1998 and 2000. The statistic was the nation's fourth highest, White said.

OFCC PAC Commentary:
Is there any doubt that Ohio's ban on carry a concealed firearm is NOT working as a deterrent to crime?

We are 100% in favor of prosecuting criminals who use guns to the fullest extent of the law. These types of programs allow county prosecutors to more easily identify suspects who are good candidates for federal gun charges - and the longer prison sentences that go with those charges. The programs find their roots in Virginia's much-lauded Project Exile.

But thanks to a few unelected bureaucrats, a waffling Republican governor, and a few Senators who are unwilling to override one of "their own", Ohio is missing out on what is proven to be the most effective deterrent to violent crime anywhere in the country: a right-to-carry law.

Meanwhile, in a state where officials understand that guns save lives, and recognize the benefits of legalized concealed firearms laws as a crime deterrent, some Utah teachers are being given the 'ok' to carry concealed firearms while at work.

Click here to read the full story in the Youngstown Vindicator.

Click here to read about increasing gang violence in Toledo, where, in addition to Ohio's CCW ban, the city's ban on inexpensive handguns is also proving itself to be a failure.