Letters to the Editor: Views are divergent on pro-gun rally

Letters edited for space - full letters can be read in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

October 1, 2003

Timing of Gun Walk was in very poor taste - Mary T. Helmes, Northside

Another day, another pro-gun article in the Enquirer. At least the reporter, Brenna R. Kelly, noted that "Not all residents" of Northside welcomed Hyde Park hairdresser Vernon Ferrier and his "gun walk" of armed pedestrians on Sunday ["Armed activists say guns protect," Sept. 29].

In reality, I'd say that most residents of Northside, myself among them, were appalled that Ferrier would invite people with guns to walk through a family neighborhood less than a week after a little boy was shot and killed by a friend just up the road in Mount Airy.

Gun-walk coverage left some things out - Nicholas Nienaber, Northside

As a resident of Northside and one of the protesters demonstrating against Vernon Ferrier's "Gun Walk," I was both pleased and upset at the way the afternoon played out ["Armed activists say guns protect," Sept. 29]. First, I was pleased by the behavior of most of the demonstrators on both sides of the issue. The shouting and arguing that usually takes place at heated demonstrations like this was replaced by spirited and intelligent political discussion. Of course, there was some inappropriate behavior, and not just from the counter march.

I was told a few times that I must not care if I was robbed or my family raped and murdered, since I don't like guns.

Commentary:
No matter how much education we and others offer on the subject, there will always be some who are afraid of firearms.

"Defense Walks" are designed to offer those persons, in particular, a visual display of the choice they have before them - open carry, with no training, background checks, or restrictive "defenseless victim" zones, as is allowed by current Ohio law and as was upheld by the Supreme Court last week as a "fundamental individual right"; OR a more subtle form of self-defense - concealed carry, as could be made law with passage of HB12.

The choice for Ohioans has never been "guns or no guns" - and the sooner those who have a fear of firearms realize that, the sooner they will realize that they may actually prefer a concealed carry law, such as is practiced in 45 other states across our nation.

In the mean-time, more and more Ohioans are going to practice open carry - timing issues not-with-standing. The actions of the Supreme Court, and those who are holding up House Bill 12 for political reasons, suggest they prefer it this way.

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Click here to read about how crime is on the increase in Cincinnati's suburbs.

Cincinnati's "other" newspaper, the liberal and thus less well-circulated Post, has published an editorial in which they try to make the case that "Ohio Supreme Court's decision the other day has eased pressure on the General Assembly to act. ".