Posted on 03/17/2002 4:10:22 PM PST by Deadeye Division
Bill finally to reach House floor
By JOHN McCARTHY
The Associated Press
3/17/02 2:07 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Ohio House is close to voting on a concealed weapons bill -- the first time in seven years that either legislative chamber will go on the record on the issue.
The House Civil & Commercial Law Committee has scheduled a vote Wednesday that would permit most Ohioans to carry concealed weapons, and once it clears the committee, it likely will be scheduled for a vote by the full House.
After that, though, its future is cloudy.
Senate President Richard Finan felt his chamber got burned by the House in 1995, when the Senate passed a concealed-weapons bill, but it never moved out of a House committee under then-Speaker Jo Ann Davidson.
The current speaker, Larry Householder, supports the idea of allowing Ohioans to carry concealed weapons and has said that he would allow a vote on a bill that had broad support in his Republican caucus.
Should the bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. James Aslanides of Coshocton, make it through the Senate it still faces opposition from Gov. Bob Taft, who won't sign a bill that is opposed by major law enforcement groups, such as the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the State Highway Patrol and the state's biggest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police. During his 1998 campaign, he said he would sign a bill police groups would support.
All the groups remain opposed to the bill.
Since the 1995 Senate vote, no conceal-carry legislation has reached the floor of the House, where some concealed-weapon amendments were denied a vote, or the Senate. Finan, who has been president since 1997, has insisted the House pass the legislation first, while Davidson, who left the House last year because of term limits, never allowed a vote.
Aslanides' bill, introduced last May, was at least the fourth such bill offered since 1995. Wednesday's hearing is the 12th the current bill has received.
Supporters say law-abiding Ohioans should be allowed to carry the guns they legally own. Opponents say the practice will lead to an increase in shootings -- both accidental and intentional.
Should the bill become law, Ohioans would be allowed to carry concealed weapons after passing a background check conducted through a statewide police computer system and completing safety training.
The bill will be amended before Wednesday's scheduled vote, committee Chairman John Willamowski, a Lima Republican, said.
One amendment would change the training portion of the bill to reflect programs offered by the National Rifle Association. The training includes classroom study, firing range time and instruction in the legal aspects of carrying a weapon.
The other amendment would allow applicants for permits to volunteer to be fingerprinted. Currently, applicants must submit to fingerprinting only if they continue the process after failing a criminal check.
"We're going to say you can do it that way, or if you have no problem with fingerprinting, you can do it from the get-go," Willamowski said.
However, volunteering for fingerprinting isn't likely to weed out more criminals who should not carry guns, said Toby Hoover, director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.
"If you really had something wrong with your background, would you volunteer?" Hoover said.
Hoover said the bill could not be rewritten to her group's satisfaction as long as it allows concealed weapons.
"Carry-conceal is simply putting Ohioans at a risk they don't need to be at. I don't understand why our legislators want to put us more at risk," she said.
Should the Legislature send the bill to Taft's desk, a group of concealed-weapons supporters hopes he signs it. Ohioans for Concealed Carry President Jeff Garvas said he would rally his group to "remind him which side of the aisle he's on."
"If you have a right to purchase a gun, you should have the right to carry a gun," Garvas said.
Taft spokeswoman Mary Anne Sharkey said Taft's position still would depend on the views of the FOP, the police chiefs and the Highway Patrol. Should one group drop its opposition, Taft would still consider the views of the others, Sharkey said.
www.ohioccw.org
Ohioans for Concealed Carry and the NRA will be the only ones in favor of getting a concealed weapons license for the Ohioans. If any other gun group is involved, they'll try to wreck the agreements. The dems will do everything in their power to stop the law. The Republicans will be blamed if it doesn't pass. The police associations will be against the law. The cops on the street will be in favor of it but not one officer will have the brains to quit the association. Some anti self-defense politician will mention the Wild West.
In light of this and if it really happens, gun laws everywhere will be out the window and every American who wants too will carry weapons concealed or unconcealed. It only makes sense to me that if we are to be "vigilant" and if people are making war on us, we need to be able to take the war to the terrorists.
It may take a couple more attacks on our homeland but there will come a point that even the most radical liberal will be carrying weapons. They will have to defend themselves or die.
Hoover said the bill could not be rewritten to her group's satisfaction as long as it allows concealed weapons.
"Carry-conceal is simply putting Ohioans at a risk they don't need to be at. I don't understand why our legislators want to put us more at risk," she said.
This can now be demonstrated to be entirely false. For more information, see GunLies.com.
As a coach says to a quarterback - Take what the defense gives you.
Please call your reps today.
Just called my rep,(a Democrat), and he is a co-sponsor.
In fact, 3 Democrats in the Northeast area are co-sponsors.
I agree with a Democrat!
House Civil and Commercial Law Committee:
REPUBLICAN Willamowski-Chair (SPONSOR, HB274)
Seitz-Vice Chair (SPONSOR, HB274)
Core-Member (SPONSOR, HB274)
Grendell-Member (SPONSOR, HB274)
Latta-Member (SPONSOR, HB274)
Manning-Member
Womer Benjamin-Member (SPONSOR, HB274)
DEMOCRAT
Sulzer-Ranking Minority Member (SPONSOR, HB274)
Beatty-Member
Jerse-Member
Mason-Member
List of current sponsors of HB274:
REPRESENTATIVES Aslanides, Hollister, Latta, Evans, Buehrer, Core, Sulzer, Carey, Metzger, Krupinski, Faber, Reinhard, Peterson, Schuring, Hagan, Willamowski, Distel, Carmichael, Trakas, Latell, Clancy, Calvert, Cates, Williams, Roman, Carano, Niehaus, Womer Benjamin, Hartnett, Coates, Kearns, Redfern, Webster, Sullivan, Sferra, Husted, Setzer, Ogg, Hughes, Grendell, Gilb, Collier, Wolpert, Seitz, Callender, Young, Schmidt, Hoops, Flowers
Jim Trakas is my Ohio rep and a co-sponsor. My Ohio Senator is Amstutz and I think he has an A or A+ NRA rating.
People should contact their rep in support especially if they are a co-sponsor because these are the guys who push to get it through.
Tuesday, March 19, 2002
Time is now to pass CCW bill
MARCH 19, 2002 -- After years of wrangling, it looks like the Ohio General Assembly might actually get a chance to pass legislation recognizing the natural right of Ohioans to defend themselves against the criminal element of our society.
House Bill 274, which would legally recognize the natural and constitutional right of Ohioans to carry a concealed weapon, is expected to be voted out of the House Civil and Commercial Law Committee chaired by Republican Rep. John R. Willamowski of Lima. GOP Rep. Anthony E. Core of Rushsylvania is also a member of that committee. The vote is expected Wednesday.
While we have some serious reservations about a few of the elements of the bill, such as the simple fact that a person has to get a license -- in other words permission -- from the state in order to simply carry a weapon to protect oneself.
But, that is far better than what Ohio currently has now.
Once the bill is voted out of committee, it is possible the full House would vote on the bill on Thursday. There are enough votes in both the House and the Senate to pass the legislation.
The real stumbling block, at this point, is Gov. Robert A. Taft II who seems to care more about what police chiefs want than what is the right thing to do. He has threatened to veto any legislation that the Ohio Association of Police Chiefs doesn't endorse. That means no concealed carry law since that group has demonstrated it is opposed to all such measures.
How unfortunate that an elected politician would defer the will of the people and their constitutional rights to unelected police organizations. Taft would be better off acknowledging the endorsement of the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association, the only elected law enforcement in Ohio. The sheriffs of the state would be the ones tasked with issuing the licenses. Yet, they are in support of this legislation.
Nearly every state in the union recognizes the natural, God-given and constitutionally protected right to self-defense. When will Ohio finally put an end to this unconscionable ban?
Study after study demonstrates that when a state allows its law-abiding residents to carry a concealed weapon, violent crime decreases.
We urge the lawmakers to pass this bill and send it to Taft. If Taft vetoes this pro-freedom bill, he will have much to answer for come November.
Guaranteed, this is one vote he won't get.
It's amusing how the anti-rights, anti-self-defense crown trots out the exact same arguments against self-defense. I swear it's like they're reading from a script. Up here in Michigan Carolyn Jarvis and Gilda Jacobs said the exact same things against our new CCW law.
Maybe the lack up new arguments is a sign that the anti-rights side had to lay off their scriptwriters?
20 March 2002
Gunning for a vote
What problem would carrying concealed weapons solve?
Seven years have passed since the Ohio legislature gave serious consideration to allowing ordinary citizens to carry concealed weapons. In 1995, the Senate passed a concealed-carry bill, but it died in the House. This time, it looks as if the House will take the lead. The House Civil & Commercial Law Committee has set a vote for today, and Speaker Larry Householder has signaled that he will allow a gun bill with broad support in his Republican caucus to get a floor vote.
Some compromises have been made. The current concealed-carry legislation would require a criminal background check and the completion of safety training. Supporters argue that most other states allow some form of concealed carry. They are extremely critical of the current status of Ohio law, which lets a person packing heat get off the hook if they can show, after being arrested and hauled into court, that they are in a business that poses danger.
Essentially, the gun lobby argues that if one has the right to own a firearm, one should be allowed to carry it.
The real question is: Why?
The state is not in the middle of an upsurge in violent crime or suffering from random terrorist assaults. There are no indications of a massive failure by state and local law enforcement officers to protect the citizenry.
In fact, the strongest opposition to the concealed-carry bill comes from the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police and from the State Highway Patrol, whose members fear for their lives and for the lives of those who mishandle weapons.
If a concealed-carry bill makes it out of the House, it should meet its demise in the Senate. And if it survives the Senate, Gov. Bob Taft should veto the legislation, despite the split it would create in his own party.
``If the men and women who are on the front lines of public safety are saying this will not enhance public safety, this will put their lives in danger, this will make it more difficult to do their job, then I'm opposed,'' Taft said during the 1998 campaign.
He should be opposed in any case. Still, at least his position has not changed. It appears that leadership on the issue will have to be assumed by the police chiefs and the state patrol officers, who face risks that are fatal as opposed to political.
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