Concealed-Carry Advocates Announce Historic Civil-Defense Rights Coalition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2003

Concealed-Carry Advocates Announce Historic Civil-Defense Rights Coalition

Coalition Endorses House-passed Version of House Bill 12 as Best Approach to Stem Ohio’s spiraling violent crime epidemic

New FBI Crime Reports Prove Michigan’s CCW Law Working

COLUMBUS, November 18 · Ohioans For Concealed Carry has announced the formation of what is possibly the largest civil-defense rights coalition in state history. Advocates of a legalized method of bearing arms for self-defense in Ohio have joined together to call upon Governor Taft, the Ohio General Assembly and Ohio Republican party to finish the job and make Ohio House Bill 12 law.

Representing one quarter of a million Ohioans, the Civil-Defense Rights Coalition is comprised of five Second Amendment-related groups, including the National Rifle Association, the Ohio Rifle & Pistol Association and the Second Amendment Sisters; the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association (representing Ohio’s highest-ranking law enforcement officials); more than 50 Ohio businesses; and the Ohio Young Republicans .

Ohioans For Concealed Carry (OFCC), the state’s largest grassroots organization focused solely on restoring Ohioans' right to bear arms for self-defense, brought the Coalition together. Coalition members want to send a message to H.B. 12 Conference Committee members: Ohioans prefer the House-passed version of the concealed carry reform bill, because it will provide more Ohioans the ability to exercise their Constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense.

“The evidence from the rest of the nation is overwhelming,” said Jeff Garvas, founder and president of OFCC. “The more restrictive these laws are when first passed, the less impact they have on violent crime. No other state has adopted the types of restrictive language passed by the Senate. The Senate’s provisions will serve only to reduce the number of Ohioans who defend their own life, and thereby reduce the overall deterrent effect on Ohio’s increasing violent crime rate.”

OFCC representatives point to recently released Michigan crime data from the FBI to support their long-held position that a concealed law will reduce crime in Ohio.

“For over 40 years, Michigan’s per capita crime rate has exceeded Ohio’s. The new 2002 FBI Uniform Crime Report proves all that has changed. In the three years since Michigan passed their concealed-carry law, Michigan’s crime trend has bucked the nation’s, falling 10.5% overall,” said OFCC PAC Chairman Jim Irvine. “Meanwhile, Ohio’s crime rate has risen 5%, in direct contrast to the national average. The devil truly is in the details - violent crimes like rape and murder hit double-digit increases in Ohio last year, while at the same time occurrences of those crimes were unchanged or lower in Michigan.”

“On September 22, we released a study by Professor David Mustard, which estimated the potential impact a concealed carry law like House Bill 12 will have on the rising Ohio crime rates,” said Chad Baus, spokesperson for OFCC. “University of Georgia Professor David Mustard used raw FBI data from nearly 20 years of crime reports when comprising the report for OFCC. Analysis of the results suggest that as each month passes, the political delays imposed by some Republican Senators and Governor Taft are responsible for approximately 3 murders, 18 rapes, 29 robberies, and as many as 96 aggravated assaults.”

Coalition representatives, and the over one thousand participants in recent open-carry ‘Defense’ Walks around the state, are pleased that Senate President Doug White finally appointed conference committee members, and say they expect quick and decisive action by that committee.

“We are very encouraged to see that the Ohio Legislature is finally taking serious steps to implement concealed
carry legislation,” said Nick Wahoff, Chairman of the Ohio Young Republicans. “Ohio is a must-win state for President Bush, who signed concealed carry reform into law as Governor of Texas in 1995. While we realize the bill is not perfect, the GOP really needs to get this issue off the table before heading back to the polls next year.”

Ohio is one of only five states that do not have a legal mechanism for law-abiding adults to carry a firearm for self-defense. The bill that left the Ohio House exceeded restrictions adopted by every state surrounding Ohio, yet the Ohio Senate continued that trend. No legislative body in the nation has enacted the extensive restrictions Governor Taft secretly convinced the Ohio Senate to add in H.B. 12.

It is incumbent upon the conferees to follow committee rules and precedent by restricting debate to the differences between the House and Senate-passed versions of the bill, to agree to an acceptable compromise, and send a bill to Governor Taft's desk immediately.

To join Ohioans For Concealed Carry, go to www.OhioCCW.org , or call 1-866-OHIO-CCW.