Ohio Law Enforcement Summit on Am. Sub. HB12 Scheduled!

5:11pm Wednesday, September 10, 2003

EXCLUSIVE: Must credit www.OhioCCW.org

For the past two weeks, OFCC has been following an exclusive report that, due to Senate amendments to HB12 dealing with how one should carry a firearm, law enforcement agencies in Ohio are not in agreement on Am. Sub. HB12.

Last week, we reported that the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) had accepted the Buckeye State Sheriff Association's (BSSA) invitation to a law enforcement summit meeting.

We are now pleased to report that the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) has accepted the invitation as well. The three law enforcement groups will meet on September 25.

The purpose this LEO Summit is to get the major law enforcement agencies in agreement on this important issue.

The communications director for the Ohio Senate Republican Caucus, Maggie Mitchell, told has previously told OFCC that Senate President White "supports any efforts that will get us a viable bill."

As previously reported, both the BSSA and FOP believe that making someone repeatedly handle, holster and unholster a loaded firearm is unsafe. These unsafe practices would be mandated as a result of Taft-sponsored Senate amendments.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol stands alone as the only law enforcement agency in Ohio that has endorsed this dangerous practice.

The OSHP's stated goal is to "enforce the traffic laws and promote safety on the highways". Since Ohio's major law enforcement agencies' critical safety concerns specifically deal with the language the OSHP demanded the Senate insert, will the OSHP bureaucrats see the error of their ways, and listen to what Ohio's major law enforcement groups are telling them is unsafe? Or will it continue to carry Bob Taft's water?

Your continued voice of opinion to the OSHP, Taft, and your Senator may just make the difference.

To express your own expectations to the OSHP (politely please!) as a taxpayer, call 1-877-7-PATROL. Emailing your thoughts to the Ohio Patrol Superintendent Col. Paul D. McClellan will only get you back a rhetoric-filled form letter. Finally, some may wish to to download an official OHP complaint form (.pdf file), which can be used to register an official complaint against troopers like Capt. John Born, who are putting lives at risk by telling persons that when attacked in their cars, they should just "drive off."

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