Ohio State Highway Patrol Bureaucrat: Can You Hear Me Now?

8:03am Wednesday, September 24, 2003

In February, Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendant Paul McClellan published a letter opposing concealed carry legislation on it's face.

In it, he made some outrageous and easily disprovable statements, such as "There is no statistical or anecdotal evidence which supports that concealment and transportation of a weapon in a motor vehicle is effective or safe as a defensive or deterrent measure" and "In fact, no legitimate organization has made empirically-based claims of cause and effect between lower crime rates and concealed weapon legislation." Perhaps it is this statement that has had the most serious of consequences:

"Because the fundamental nature of motor vehicles allows those who feel threatened to simply drive away, the argument that motorists need loaded concealed weapons is weak."

There are plenty more where that came from - click here to read the entire archived letter, with Commentary.

McClellan didn't stop at putting this letter on his website - he submitted it, false statements and all - to Senate President Doug White's office on March 5. OFCC quickly responded by providing the evidence that McClellan can't seem to find to Pres. White's office (we also provided a host of empirical studies from academics at major universities nationwide, and which McClellan claims in his letter are all from illegitimate sources.

The bureaucrat was undeterred - he began emailing the letter to everyone who contacted his office about his poorly crafted, deceptive position statement - and he continued to do for 8 months.

McClellan has obviously been hearing from the taxpayers who write his checks in recent days and weeks (1-877-7-PATROL), because after 8 months of trying to force-feed his false statements to legislators and the public, he has removed his letter from the website, and replaced it with a new one.

In recent weeks, we have covered the story of an Ohio Law Enforcement Summit Meeting, which will be held tomorrow, Sept. 25. The Buckete State Sheriffs Association has called McClellan and the OSHP to the table, to inform him that the language he endorses - the language he claims improves officer safety - is entirely UNSAFE. The Ohio Fraternal Order of Police agree with the Sheriffs, and have also agreed to attend the meeting.

Could this new letter be a bitter warning that McClellan will not listen to the reasoning of Ohio's two largest law enforcement organizations warnings? Could a small Ohio police force, which focuses primarily on traffic violations, and has jurisdiction only on Ohio's state highways, continue to be allowed to "write" legislation, by a Republican Senator unwilling to allow his collegues to vote their concience in a potential veto-override session? Or by a waffling Governor who claimed to have been willing to support a bill that had broad law enforcement support?

In his original letter, McClellan said "New legislation normally addresses a problem, either existing or potential. Fortunately, in part due to the efforts of Ohio's law enforcement officers, Ohio has not experienced an epidemic which would dictate loading our vehicles with concealed guns."

Tell that to Mr. Tony Gordon 's family, Spt. McClellan. Tony Gordon died trying to follow the OSHP's advice on what to do when attacked in one's car. Tell it to his two-year old daughter, or his 13 year old nephew, who was an occupant in the vehicle Tony was in when he tried to "drive away", as you suggest he do, and was shot through the heart by a carjacker, who remains at large after six weeks.

McClellan says, in his new letter, "We hope that officer safety is placed at the forefront of future CCW debates." In both letters, McClellan seems largely unconcerned with citizen safety. Ohioans For Concealed Carry, the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association, and the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, are concerned with both.

To read Spt. McClellan's latest anti-self-defense letter, click "Read More..." link below.

Commentary inserted in blue.

Letter from Patrol Superintendent regarding concealed weapon legislation
September 17, 2003

For the first time in recent history, the Ohio State Highway Patrol took a neutral stance on pending legislation which would allow loaded handguns in motor vehicles for qualified and trained permit holders. The Ohio Senate version of pending legislation to change Ohio’s firearms laws, Substitute House Bill 12 (HB12), addressed our major concerns in regards to officer and public safety. With only three Ohio troopers shot and killed in the last 70 years, we certainly do not want to jeopardize officer safety.

Judging by their previous position statement, McClellan is clearly anti-CCW. It should be no surprise that the OSHP went "neutral" on the Senate's amended HB12 - that chamber managed to take the reform out of the bill, and to make current law worse for defenseless, law-abiding citizens. While officer safety is always a concern, it is important to note that the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association and Ohio Fraternal Order of Police believe the Senate's amended language creates a citizen safety issue.

We opposed the less stringent House passed version of HB12 which allowed both permit holders (who complete training and background checks) and non-permit holders to carry loaded guns in cars. Because the House version of HB12 expanded current affirmative defenses, it also created a major new loophole for criminals who carry loaded guns in motor vehicles. The Senate version closed this loophole by allowing qualified permit holders to carry loaded handguns in motor vehicles while imposing serious penalties for criminals who are caught with loaded guns in motor vehicles.

House-passed HB12 absolutely, totally did NOT create a loophole for criminals to carry firearms in motor vehicles. This claim is ridiculous. Felons are not permitted to be in possession of firearms. So to claim that they'd be able to exercise an affirmative defense to a CCW charge in court is ludicrous. What McClellan does not say here is that the Senate didn't punish criminals with their amendments, but instead punished mothers & fathers who want to protect their children, as well as potential victims of violence, who don't have time to obtain the restraining order they'd be required to have to exercise an affirmative defense if they chose to protect themselves.

Another significant change in the Senate version of HB12 requires permit holders who transport loaded handguns to secure the handgun in a locked compartment or in plain sight of an officer conducting a traffic stop. While we would prefer handguns, like rifles, to be unloaded while transported in a motor vehicle, the Senate version is similar to current law for the transportation of rifles and shotguns. It provides reasonable safeguards for law enforcement officers while maintaining the right of citizen self-defense.

46 other states allow CCW in cars. 21 of those do not require any license whatsoever, in order to protect oneself in a motor vehicle. NO other state requires license-holders to lock their self-defense firearm up in a car. OFCC has long-held that this "lock box" provision is a poison-pill amendment. Gov. Taft and the OSHP knew it when they endorsed it, and Sen. Pres. Doug White knew it when he inserted it. The NRA agrees, stating in a recent mailer to Ohio members that "this (lockbox) provision would make the firearm useless for self-defense and render the Right-to-Carry law meaningless."

Unfortunately for a number of officers each year in our country, concealed loaded handguns (CCW) in vehicles prove deadly. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, Ohio’s troopers put their lives on the line for the public we serve. There are few agencies in the country that interact more with motorists than the Ohio State Highway Patrol. While public safety has been at the forefront of HB12 proponents’ concern, Ohio’s troopers and other law enforcement officers are on the front lines of public safety. We hope that officer safety is placed at the forefront of future CCW debates.

Sincerely,

Colonel Paul D. McClellan
Superintendent
Ohio State Highway Patrol

With or without HB12, criminals will carry firearms in cars in Ohio. That is a fact that all responsible law enforcement agencies will train their officers to prepare for. But they have nothing to fear from CCW-license-holders. In the 45 states which have some legal mechanism for concealed carry, here has not been a single incident - even ONE - of a CCW license-holder killing an officer at a traffic stop. Period. On the other hand, there are literally thousands upon thousands of cases of civilians being in their vehicles killed by carjackers.

Click here to read the letter on the OSHP website.

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