Pro-Gun Punditry: Wednesday's Buckeye State Roundabout

There are more stories pertaining to our gun rights in Ohio then we can possibly draw attention to with individual daily commentary. But they are worthy of comment.

What follows is our weekly view of headlines from around the state though a pro-gun rights lens.

Below are seven days of headlines accompanied by short, concise pro-gun analysis.

Thursday in Dayton: Thieves Target Local Cell Phone Towers

Thieves are stealing copper plates from cell phone towers, and it's happening all over The Miami Valley. David Reeves' is a vice president with P & R Communications. He started noticing missing plates on P & R tower's two weeks ago. He said, "We looked at five or six different sites in the area and every one of them had been hit." Police say two men and two women are likely involved. Detectives say the foursome tried selling two stolen copper plates at first street recycling. The plates are worth just 25 bucks to crooks. But, they cost the cell phone companies around two thousand dollars to replace them. And, the cost isn't the only concern. Although, the plates are small, they're important to the tower, the company and cell users. The copper grounds the tower. So, without the plate, a lightning strike could blow out the tower causing hundreds of thousands in damages. It would also reroute area cell calls.

One has to wonder what effect this has on the LEO response and determining point of origin? Seems to me the most likely time for this to happen is during bad weather or natural disasters further complicating LEO response ---- and further leaving the average citizen on their own. Another wake up call that while technology is nice and often helps us our personal planning should be for protection when all else fails.

Thursday in Ohio: Rasmussen Poll Shows Strickland Leading Blackwell

Democratic Congressman Ted Strickland holds a six-point lead over two possible Republican candidates in the race to become Ohio's next Governor. Strickland leads Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell by a 42% to 36% margin. Six percent (6%) say that they would prefer a third party candidate and 15% are not sure. Strickland leads former Congressman John Kasich 39% to 33%. This match-up leads 7% to prefer some other candidate and 21% are undecided. Other candidates could emerge as the nominee for either party. In January 2006, Rasmussen Reports will begin regular polling of both the Primary and General Election prospects in Ohio..

Early polls such as this are little more than political entertainment, but it is certainly good news that two pro-gun candidates are topping the polls for Ohio governor, no matter how early.

Saturday in Akron: LTE: Gun reform is necessary

Your Sept. 25 editorial headlined "Carried away'' misrepresented a very complex issue. What failed to gain public attention is Rep. Jim Aslanides' bill addresses only law-abiding citizens with no disqualifying criminal record. To obtain an Ohio concealed handgun license, one must pass and pay for required training and a criminal background investigation as to help defend against a possible criminal attack. The bill doesn't address criminals who can't obtain a license, as they carry firearms by disregarding any laws. It legislation stems from the need for more safety and from experiences since the current law began. The experience is shown in the Ohio attorney general's current report dated Aug. 15. Of Ohio's 59,101 license holders, no felony firearms charges have been filed since the law took effect. The predictions made by its opponents appear to be mistaken. The section of the law for a person carrying firearms in motor vehicles is hazardous. Most experts believe overhandling a firearm is dangerous. The problem with the media compromise in the current law is some outlets are publishing complete license lists instead of the intended use of verifying someone as a license holder for a story. I see no possible newsworthy reason to publish a list of names of private people who have done nothing wrong -- except receive an Ohio concealed handgun license. To understand why this is a concern, one needs to remember that criminals naturally disregard laws. A newspaper is a convenient source of needed information for anyone. Such a list gives criminals the names and locations to steal more guns so they can continue their criminal activities. Such was the case for Bill Singleton of Cleveland, who was killed days after his name appeared in one "shopping'' list. Please remember the press is very much like a firearm or a tool. If used by a responsible person, either is good for the right situation. If used irresponsibly, either can be very dangerous.

Robert Wiley
North Canton

While newspapers appear prepared to oppose HB347 over a provision which would protect the privacy of persons whose life could literally be threatened by having their names and locations released to the news media, they likely have no history of opposing Federal legislation which did the same for drivers' license/ license plate owners back in 1994. Ask your newspaper why they oppose giving CHL-holders the same right to privacy as drivers and car owners have.

Saturday in Canton: Canton robbery victim sues shoe store over disconnected alarm system

When an armed robber put a gun to Cathy L. Brown's head and ordered her to empty the safe at her Payless shoe store, he didn't know she pressed a special button to summon police. But Brown didn't know that the security service had been discontinued by the store. Brown, 34, of Canton, filed a lawsuit against Payless this week in Stark County Common Pleas Court seeking damages for negligence, fraud and emotional distress. Brown, who was not injured in the Aug. 18, 2004, robbery, should have been told that the security measure had been disabled, according to the suit. The special button was on a keypad on the safe. A savvy robber might have spotted her alerting police and she could have been shot, said her attorney, Paul R. Reiners of Canton. Brown, who was alone in the store on Tuscarawas Street West during the nighttime robbery, has suffered psychological problems and is receiving counseling, he added. "The more time she had to think about it, the worse it got,'' he said. Brown, who no longer works at Payless, would have acted differently during the robbery if she had known the security button didn't work, according to the suit. Brown, who was not available for comment, sued partly to alert other workers to this potential problem in their workplaces, Reiners said. Payless Shoesource attorney Jay Andrews said the company had not seen the suit and could not comment.

It is going to take more lawsuits like this before corporations that prevent their employees (and customers) from making their own personal preparations for self-defense to realize there is a greater threat to the bottom line from assuming all liability for the protection of everyone in their places of business than there is any risk from allowing them to protect themselves.

Saturday in Columbus: Gun-maker liability law is misunderstood

The recent Dispatch headline "Makers of guns escape liability" was a very welcome bit of news, even though the headline and the story were extremely biased. It seems that it will now be more difficult for liberal and anti-gun groups to attempt to do through the courts what they are prohibited by the Second Amendment from doing in the legislature: getting rid of guns. The law does not, as the headline implies, relieve gun makers of all liability. They are simply not liable for what a buyer does with his gun, any more than a carmaker is liable for the drunken driver who causes mayhem on the roads. Makers will still be liable for product-quality issues, such as if a gun breaks during normal use. They simply made a law that said the courts, lawyers and other idiots cannot hold gun makers liable for other people’s actions. Sounds fair to me. The lawsuits mentioned in the article by various city governments are not the equivalent of the tobacco lawsuits, of which I also disapprove. The former’s sick and twisted bit of "logic" implies that the manufacturer of an item is responsible for people breaking the law with that object. Imagine our fair, though simple-minded, city government suing General Motors and Ford because traffic accidents and drunken drivers cost the city money. Better still, let’s sue them because bank robbers escape with the aid of their product. How about because of drive-by shootings? Couldn’t have those without cars, now could we? This is the same logic upon which these lawsuits have been based. The anti-gun crowd has gotten so bad in this country that they can’t even think about the repercussions of what they are doing down the road. It took tremendous courage for the politicians in Washington to protect a politically incorrect industry as it has. The only mistake it made was not to protect every industry from such abuse. I predict that these amoral political hacks will try to shake down another industry of which they disapprove. What all of them really want is total control over all of us. They won’t have that until they are the only ones with access to weapons of any kind. If they get it, we will then truly be slaves of the state. I applaud the steps being taken in Washington and in our state legislature to eliminate city and county authority over gun owners.

Robert Williams
Powell

Why is it that everyday Ohioans can take the time to investigate what legislation will do, but journalists who are being paid to do so cannot? Common sense like this is all too uncommon in the pages of Ohio's newspapers...

Tuesday in Youngstown: Petro: I will come back against Ken Blackwell

Even though polls — including his own — show him trailing Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial race, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro said he'll be the comeback kid. Petro told The Vindicator on Monday that he's optimistic he'll catch Blackwell, but acknowledged he has a tough primary next May. The other statewide officeholder seeking the Republican nomination is Auditor Betty Montgomery. Polls show Blackwell leading Petro and Montgomery on the Republican side, typically by at least 10 percent. Petro said he has no intention of quitting the race, something that Montgomery has also repeatedly said. "If Betty were to not stay in the race, it would be a totally different ball game," Petro said. If he faced Blackwell one on one, Petro said he would win, and believes he can still do so with the three in the race. Petro said Blackwell is "an extreme right-winger who can't win in Ohio." If Blackwell is the Republican nominee, Petro said he would lose to U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, in the November 2006 general election.

Is this a sign his opponents now know they can't beat Blackwell in the traditional "run to the right in the primary, run to the middle in the general" strategy?

Tuesday in Toledo: Hunters bagged lot more than deer

More than 15,000 stories were created over the weekend, tales to be told across generations to come, as daughters and sons, nieces and nephews, grandkids and neighbor kids went afield with their elders in Ohio's third annual youth gun-deer hunting season. A sampling of some of those tales - there just is no room for all - follows. But know that nearly 6 of 10 young hunters afield bagged a deer, compiling a record take of 8,722 deer, according to preliminary totals. That is nearly 31 percent more deer than in the 2004 season. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said that youth hunting ranks have grown annually, no doubt in part because of this deer season, from 34,459 in 2002 to 39,491 in 2003 and 41,562 in 2004. The division has taken an active role in the national Families Afield initiative, which aims to encourage adults to take youngsters hunting. It is a cooperative venture of the National Wild Turkey Federation, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance.... [Consider the experience of ] two "veteran" youth hunters, Elizabeth Latta and Samantha Ayer. They are both 13 and respectively hunted with their dads, State Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green), and Tim Ayer of Grand Rapids. The Lattas returned to a favorite farm haunt in Athens County Saturday and bagged a hefty spike buck, one with eight-inch antlers. "She's 3-for-3 and she's not even 14 yet," said Bob Latta. This year Elizabeth used her own shotgun, a scoped .410 single-shot that was last year's Christmas present. Previously she was borrowing the favorite .410 of her grandfather, Delbert Latta, the retired congressman. Grandpa, Bob Latta said, insisted on watching the video of Elizabeth's deer hunt three times - after her piano recital on Sunday. Samantha Ayer bagged a big doe with her 20-gauge Saturday morning near home. It was her second consecutive deer in three seasons.

Tell your state representative and state senator you'd like to hear twice as many such stories next season, and ask for their support for Rep. Steve Buehrer's House Bill 296, the Hunting Apprentice License bill.