Tale of Two Cities: Cincinnati homicides skyrocketing, Indy's rate drops (again)

Cincinnatians, still suffering with the rest of Ohio from the denial of their self-defense rights, are under a violent crime seige.

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting a 117 percent increase in the number of Cincinnati homicides so far this year, compared with the same period in 2002, when six people were killed. And last year's 65 slayings were a 15-year high.

Detectives have made arrests in six of the 2003 killings. That adds up to a closure rate of only around 50 percent.

"Murder is an extremely difficult crime to prevent," said Capt. Robert Snow, an Indianapolis homicide supervisor who has written many books on killings. "Take the domestic violence ones - unless you find people with domestic violence charges and assign an officer to their house, you're not going to prevent it."

The homicide rate in Indianapolis (Indiana is a shall-issue concealed carry license state) has declined steadily for the past four years - from 130 when he got the job to 83 last year.

Every day that Ohio's Republican leadership waits to pass concealed carry reform increases the defenseless victim list in our state, and forces otherwise law-abiding citizens into making a choice between facing felony arrest or being unable to defend themselves. This simply should not be.

Click here to read the entire story in the Cincinnati Enquirer.