Posted on 05/29/2012 3:19:56 PM PDT by marktwain
"Whatever happened to . . .?" is a weekly series updating some of the most newsworthy and interesting local stories covered in The Plain Dealer. Have a suggestion on a story we should update? Send it to John C. Kuehner.
Today, we answer this question:
Whatever happened to concerns about patrons carrying guns in bars after Ohio legislators adopted a new law last year?
"It hasn't been long enough to come to any conclusions on it for sure," said Toby Hoover, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.
Police have not noticed a change either.
"I haven't heard anything about it since then," said Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, which opposed the law.
Jim Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association, which supported the measure, said he never considered the law very controversial because of the many states that already allowed guns in bars.
"We did not expect any great change and that's really what we've seen," he said. "It's much ado about nothing."
Ohioans have been allowed to pack heat inside bars for more than six months now, thanks to a law passed last year.
The law also allows people to carry concealed firearms in restaurants, nightclubs, shopping malls and sports stadiums. A person cannot carry a gun while drinking or drunk at a place that serves alcohol. Bars and other places can prohibit guns if they choose.
Opponents of the law said bars would take on a "wild West" atmosphere if patrons could arm themselves.
Republican lawmakers passed the bill, Senate Bill 17, last summer, despite those concerns. Gov. John Kasich signed the bill shortly thereafter.
Statistics from the Cleveland Police Department don't provide much clarity.
From Oct. 1, 2011 -- the day after the law took effect -- until April 1, 2012, there were four felony assaults involving a gun in Cleveland at a bar or liquor establishment, according to the department's crime analysis unit.
There were six such incidents over that same time span a year earlier when the law was not in effect.
The Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office does not keep statistics on gun incidents in bars or restaurants. Maria Russo, a spokeswoman for the office, said statistics are kept based on the crime committed, and there isn't a specific statute that deals with gun violence in a bar or restaurant.
” No blood in the bars...how many times do “progressives” need to be shown to have flaws in their fundamental assumptions about reality? “
Forever....you can’t fix stupid.
You can’t carry and drink.
I doubt there are many people going to a bar with a concealed carry permit and carrying a gun. What’s the point in being there if you aren’t going to drink?
You cannot drink and drive either, but that doesn't stop people from being designated drivers. I do not drink much, so I have no problem going to a bar with friends and not drinking.
The law was mostly aimed at restaurants that also serve alcohol, allowing CCW holders to order a meal most places.
Its illegal to possess and drink. People whose faculties are impaired should not carry in a public setting. Many can’t respond to a situation in a reasonable manner. They should leave this law alone. Flame away...
...but 25 people shot in Chicago ( a gun free zone?) liberals are a joke, zombies actually...no thought process at all.
How many steps does it take to get to the Clouds of Magellan?
You can’t carry and drink.
I don’t give up my right to self defense when tipsy. i don’t even give up that right when entering certain communist states.
And if I’m sober enough to stand or walk steadily, I’m sober enough to use a gun in the face of of a mortal threat caused by a criminal. Shaky elderly folks have the same right.
I also have many years of experience at leaving the gun right where it is, concealed safely, even when I’m rather tipsy.
All of the gun free zones have a high murder rate.
Is it safe to assume that bar holdups have declined?
That is actually a FEDERAL FELONY. It is technically a federal felony to clean your own gun in your own house while drinking a beer. You cannot handle a firearm with any amount of alcohol in your blood, loaded or unloaded. They don’t try to enforce it, however, unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances.
There was a report awhile back when two military guys were sitting in one of the guy’s room drinking. They were drunk. The resident of the room takes out an unloaded revolver and decides to explain to his buddy how “russian roulette” works. He demonstrates it without bullets and then shows the guest how you can see which way the cylinder is rotating so you will know before you pull the trigger if it will indeed fire. He then puts one bullet in it to prove his point, and pulls the trigger until he can see that the next time he pulls the trigger it will indeed fire. Then he unloads the gun and puts the gun away. they resume drinking. The guest is now really toasted and requests to see the gun again. He hands it to the guest unloaded. The guest has a bullet in his hand and loads it, then points the gun to himself and pulls the trigger. It fired and the guy died.
The surviving owner of the gun was charged with murder. How do they justify this charge?
Well, they made a law awhile back that any death caused while in the commission of a felony will be charged to the person committing the felony regardless whether the person was actually the killer. For instance, a guy holds up a gas station and a customer pulls out his legal concealed carry gun and starts shooting and hits an innocent bystander and kills him, the robber will be charged with murder, not the legally CCW customer who actually shot him.
So since the drunk guy was already committing a felony by handling a firearm while drinking, the death is ruled a murder and he is charged with that murder.
Ohio Bars tend to be Taverns where food is as important or more important than the booze.
I got no problem with fire arms in Taverns.
People take their kids to Taverns.
Nightclubs are a bit different, they are exclusively Booze and Testosterone/Estrogen
“You cannot handle a firearm with any amount of alcohol in your blood, loaded or unloaded.”
I have seen numerous people handle guns after a drink of alcohol. Did you mean that it is illegal?
Making a law does not make it so.
Do you have any citation for the above? It would likely be against military regulations to do so, but I have never heard that it was a federal felony.
If, when you are done cleaning your gun, your breath smells
like Hoppes #9 and the gun smells like Glenlivet you were
probably too drunk when you started.
That is actually a FEDERAL FELONY.
What statute?
It will be in the form of: ##U.S.C.###
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