Politically, CCW should be a no-brainer.
Published Wednesday, October 10, 2001, in the Akron Beacon Journal.
Gunning for compromise
Many in law enforcement still say no to concealed carry Crime rates have been falling for years, but the events of Sept. 11 caused a sharp upturn in concerns for personal safety among many Americans. It is against this shifting backdrop that an Ohio House subcommittee headed by Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin, R-Aurora, is considering amended legislation that would allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons. A substitute bill is expected to be ready for a hearing today.
The compromise would impose background checks, including some fingerprinting requirements for newer state residents, as well as training specifications. A hunting license would count, but only if held for three years in a row. The bill would ban concealed weapons in certain locations, including college campuses. Yes, the right to buy gas masks and stock up on antibiotics would remain undisturbed.
Ohio's streets would not suddenly resemble those of the Wild West under such legislation, with citizens blazing away at each other or turning their fire toward terrorist hordes. In fact, the state law currently prohibiting concealed carry allows a person whose business could place them in danger to carry a pistol, which they would have to justify to a judge or prosecutor. Hunters, target shooters and other gun enthusiasts already travel about with weapons in plain view.
Nevertheless, the compromise worked out in Womer Benjamin's House Commercial and Civil Law subcommittee fails to surmount the concerns of all law enforcement groups, even as it continues to aggravate those with a literal-minded interpretation of the Second Amendment.
As things stand, the Ohio Highway Patrol and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police strongly oppose any form of concealed carry, fearing for their members' safety when approaching suspects, while the Buckeye Sheriffs' Association publicly supports the bill being hashed out in Womer Benjamin's subcommittee. That leaves the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, which could support a concealed carry bill, depending on the training requirements. A spokesman says the group is not opposed to the ``concept'' of concealed carry.
Despite the split, opposition by the Ohio Highway Patrol (a state agency) and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police should give Ohio Gov. Bob Taft the rationale he says he needs to veto a concealed carry bill. Here are Taft's own words on the subject: ``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 for them to do their job, then I'm opposed.''