Op-Ed: New gun bill raises serious questions

At first glance, this op-ed looks like the beginnings of yet another tortured anti-gun editorial. But this piece is well worth the read, and serves as a good reminder: no one who is unsure of their willingness to use deadly force should choose to become a Concealed Handgun License-holder.

By RON SIMON
Mansfield News Journal

When I came home from the service back in the wicked 1960s, I brought a little friend home with me named Smith and Wesson.

With a matching shoulder holster.

The reason I did this was partly because of a mind-set forged in Vietnam and partly because of reading the newspapers.

From my perch in the Far East, the United States looked like a crazy shooting gallery. It seemed only prudent to go about armed.

First off, I was illegal. Secondly, I never needed the thing, barely ever carried it.

In the end, I sold the .38 illegally to another veteran for $25 -- plus $10 for the sweat-catcher it rode in. I felt like I had passed a problem on to somebody else. I had the price of 35 cold beers and had shucked a legal and a moral burden off my back.

Many people would not feel that way. By this summer, Joe and Jane Doe can carry concealed weapons in Ohio provided they pass a background criminal check and a 12-hour training course. They have to pay the fee for training and renew their license to carry with their local sheriff every four years. About the only place they can carry is on the street and in parking lots or in dark alleys late at night.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

The list of places you can't pack your hand gun is long. But who wants to carry a gun into church, or into a bar; a day-care center, government or school building or anyplace that bans concealed weapons? You are not a peace officer.

Recalling Vietnam, I carried a carbine during courier trips into Saigon. But never a handgun. Those were for officers or senior NCOs and rarely seen except in combat zones. The long barrel weapon was business.

It was never said out loud, but I believe the Army felt that kids like me were not considered mature enough for handguns. We might pull them on cabbies or yank them out during bar fights. Cowboy stuff in a tough town like Saigon.

One of the reasons I got rid of my piece those many decades ago was that I never felt I needed it, even though the OSU campus area was a rowdy and sometimes scary place. Since that time there has never been a moment when I felt having a gun was necessary. Maybe I've led a sheltered life.

There are times you wish somebody had been armed. Such as when a freak walks into a public place and starts firing away. Nobody ever fires back. They just die like cattle in a slaughter house.

So, on those rare occasions this new Ohio law may provide a remedy. Advocates point out that the incidence of violent crime in Florida dropped when a similar law was passed.

I don't have much problem with law-abiding, trained people carrying concealed weapons. There are those who believe this will make things worse. Just more guns out there.

I never hear any objections when some nut blows people away. Or when armed criminals shoot down a convenience store cashier. I guess it's assumed that criminals will be armed. I just wish that cashier had been. Or maybe a customer.

I doubt that I will purchase a handgun. But I might not mind having something under the bed or behind the night stand at home. Something with two barrels. Something for home defense besides 911 and the long wait for the sound of a siren.

Which raises the big question. Could you do it? Shoot somebody in self defense? My hope, and yours too, is that you never have to find out.