OH Gun Grabbers: ''Listen to law enforcement. No, not THAT law enforcement.''

For the past year or two, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence and Million Mom March (like Bob Taft), has been fond of saying that we need to listen to "law enforcement"'s concerns about concealed carry. Since "law enforcement" doesn't like it, they've argued, it shouldn't become law.

These days, they don't want anyone to listen to "law enforcement" - not if the definition of law enforcement includes the sheriff's departments for Ohio's 88 counties, and not if the definition of law enforcement includes the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police. They don't even define Ohio's state trooper's - the ones who are actually on the state highways, performing the traffic stops - as law enforcement. These days, the OCAGV, MMM, and Bob Taft define "law enforcement" as one small group of Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucrats, who, in the face of all reason and logic that is presented to them, remain politically opposed to allowing Ohioans to recover their right to choose to bear arms for self-defense.

Since the Senate so poorly amended the bill in June, Ohioans For Concealed Carry has worked tirelessly to show that the Senate's amendments to HB12 regarding carrying firearms in motor vehicles are dangerous. As any police officer will tell you, years and years of training still does not prevent officers from having accidents. Ohio HB12 requires the most extensive training of any CCW bill in the country. But if that law is allowed to contain the dangerous language inserted by the Senate at Taft's request, no amount of training would be enough. Law enforcement - the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association and the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police - agrees with US.

These two law enforcement groups - by far the largest in Ohio - will hold a summit meeting on September 25 with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, in one final attempt to get that body's leadership to do what is right for the taxpaying, defenseless citizens of our state, instead of blindly spouting the rhetoric they are instructed to by their boss, Gov. Taft.

The OCAGV doesn't like that prospect very much. Apparently, firearms safety is of somewhat less of a concern to this group than is making certain you remain defenseless.

Click on the "Read More..." link below to read their latest email alert (corrected for spelling errors).

Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence

Alerts and Education

RE: State Highway Patrol

We need to thank the State Highway Patrol for their contribution to making the Senate version of the Carrying Concealed Weapon bill HB12 a safer bill for their officers and the passengers of vehicles in Ohio.

The proponents of the carry law have been bashing and critizing the Patrol for the restrictions they put on the bill. The Patrol added carrying openly in vehicles and carrying locked in a lockbox or the glove compartment if there is a child in the car to the passed version of HB12 in the Senate.

The sheriffs have now invited the FOP and the Patrol to a meeting next week to try to convince them this is unsafe and will lead to more unintentional injuries because of the increased handling of the weapons.

We think this is strange reasoning because the proponents claim they will be the best trained law abiding citizens in the state that will be carrying.

More likely it is because they have never wanted anyone to know they are carrying and do not like the open provision. It has always been about hidden guns.

The Patrol only addressed concerns of highway safety on any bill therefore is neutral on the bill after adding that provision.

Please send them a short thanks for trying to keep our families safer.

Send to:

Colonel Paul McClellan
Ohio State Highway Patrol
1970 West Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Ohioans Against Gun Violence
P.O. Box 1078
Toledo, OH 43697
[email protected]
www.ohioceasefire.org
phone 419.244.7442
fax 419.244.7440

The OCAGV leadership obviously reads our website. We're glad they're here, even if they conveniently missed the opening line of every story on the Ohio Law Enforcement Officer Summit - "EXCLUSIVE: Must credit www.OhioCCW.org." If it's good enough for them to read, we'd think they'd feel comfortable providing the link for their alert-list recipients. Or would that risk helping them know that we, too, care about protecting children, potential rape victims, potential carjacker victims, potential home invasion victims, etc.?

Related Stories:
Ohio Law Enforcement Summit on Am. Sub. HB12 Scheduled

Translating Toby: Senate testimony full of holes

Op-Ed: Less Citizen Opposition Means More Guns (by Cleveland Chapter MMM President)

Letter to the Editor: 'Gun lobby' won't arm everybody

These extremists & businesses want you to remain defenseless