Free Republic

WARREN - When three pit bulls charged a Warren police officer and her police dog Thursday afternoon, her first thought was for the dog. The dog's first thought was for the officer. In the end, Officer Sherrey Ewanish walked away a little frazzled with a few minor scratches and bruises. Arras, the Dutch shepherd K-9, had a chunk taken out of her ear, a cut in the eye and puncture wounds going down her back. Two of the three pit bulls were shot and killed. Ewanish and Arras were responding to an alarm at 441 Elm Road N.E. when three...

WARREN - A 62-year-old Howland man arrested while holstering a military-style pistol with Kevlar penetrating bullets is scheduled to make his first court appearance this morning. Jerry Joseph of Valacamp Avenue S.E. is accused of violating Ohio's conceal and carry law during a traffic stop Monday when police say he failed to tell police he had the weapon concealed while he was in a motor vehicle. Joseph is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Warren Municipal Court on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle. He is free on $5,500 bond....

Jury rejects man's claims against former neighbor. After the smoke cleared and the ashes settled, a jury spoke through its verdict Monday: One neighbor's cigarette pleasure outweighs another's cough. In what is being described as the first such lawsuit of its kind in the country, a Summit County jury took about an hour to side with a smoker who was sued by her former Stow neighbor over secondhand fumes. Nonsmoker Robert Zangrando, 72, had sought more than $300,000 in damages. He walked out of court empty-handed after spending several thousand dollars bringing the case to trial. ``There are so many...

CLEVELAND (AP) - An advisory panel says City Council should ban smoking in restaurants, workplaces and other public areas, but the council president said the group doesn't plan to take action soon. Members of the Cleveland Clean Indoor Air Advisory Committee made their recommendation Wednesday. The group suggests making private clubs and 10 percent of hotel rooms exempt from the ban. The panel is independent of council, which has not planned any smoking ban legislation, said Maxine Greer, council spokeswoman. Council President Frank Jackson said he has not received a recommendation from the panel. "If we do receive it, we...

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Applebee's restaurants in Niles and Boardman will be among those in Ohio that will go nonsmoking after a decision by Thomas and King, the nation's 11th-largest restaurant operator, the company announced Monday. The policy at the Niles restaurant will take effect Monday and be implemented at all stores by month's end, the company said. Robert Holmes, 83, of Warren said he'd like to see other restaurants follow Applebee's lead in the no-smoking policy. ''Second-hand smoke is known to be bad for people,'' Holmes said Monday at the Eastwood Mall. ''Smoking spoils my dinner.'' Holmes, a former tobacco...

NRA to draw crowds and protesters Vice President Cheney expected to speak at this week's convention Monday, April 12, 2004 By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The National Rifle Association annual convention, beginning Friday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, will offer an array of events and activities to an expected 60,000 attendees, the largest turnout in the organization's 133 years. Among the events for the convention itself, which runs from Friday through Sunday -- the NRA board of directors also will meet here April 19-20 -- are the annual member meeting; sessions on carrying concealed weapons, gun collecting,...

YOUNGSTOWN — Sure, Ohio now has a concealed-carry law, but once you get a license, your hidden holstered gun may not be welcome everywhere you want to go. Like spring flowers, signs that prohibit firearms are popping up everywhere. Businesses, including The Vindicator, that don't want employees, visitors or customers to enter armed are posting warning signs. Violators face a misdemeanor charge. The concealed-carry law takes effect Thursday. That day, sheriffs' departments will begin processing applications, and licenses are expected to be ready within 45 days. So, sometime in May, licensed Ohioans will be out and about with their guns....

Taft to sign hidden gun bill By JOHN McCARTHY The Associated Press COLUMBUS - Lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday to allow Ohioans to carry hidden guns, and Gov. Bob Taft said he will sign it. The Senate vote was 25-8, and the House vote was 69-24. Taft said he looked forward to signing the bill. The vote marked the first time the Legislature and the governor's office have agreed to a deal after a decade of debate on the highly contentious issue. Ohioans who apply for permits to carry concealed weapons would have to pay a fee, undergo background checks...

YOUNGSTOWN — Carol Sell stood on Federal Plaza with a .22-caliber revolver strapped to her waist. "I believe law-abiding citizens have the right to carry a concealed weapon to defend ourselves, especially as a woman," said Sell, of Champion. She was one of 55 participants in the Youngstown Defense Walk, organized to elicit support for state legislation that would allow Ohio residents to carry concealed firearms. Ohio law already permits individuals to carry firearms openly, and that was one point of Saturday's march along Front and Market streets, said organizer Rick Kaleda of Hazelwood Avenue. Kaleda is a pistol and...

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich and Director Joel Brunsvold are proud to bring you the premiere World Shooting Complex in 2006. The complex will be located in Southern Illinois near the City of Sparta. The complex is located near three airports and is less that 50 miles from three metropolitan areas including St. Louis, MO. Visitors will have access to a variety of amenities from quaint local restaurants and shops, to the bustling activities of the St. Louis area. The complex will feature a variety of activities for the avid sportsman. 1200 acres including 250 acres of water 124 trap fields...

The state’s ban on the concealed carry of weapons is constitutional. In a 5-2 ruling issued Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that the state’s ban does not infringe on the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Ohio Constitution. The ruling keeps Ohio from joining 44 other states that allow citizens to carry hidden guns. Ohio has had some kind of ban on concealed weapons since 1859.

They blew it. It's as simple as that. They just flat-out blew it. Who is "they?" Take your pick: • The Board of Directors of the Amateur Trapshooting Association. • Governmental leaders from the Dayton area. • Ohio's politicians. • All of the above. On Thursday night the ATA delegates voted to move the Grand American to one of two very weak choices to become the new home of the event that has been held every year in Vandalia for 80 years. Those choices are: Sparta, Illinois, which is still as much out in the middle of nowhere as it...

Responsible gun safety is no accident - Monday, June 9, 2003 SUMMARY: Following a few simple safety rules and common sense prevent tragedies like this. Bret Chaussee died the kind of death that's practically unheard of in America. The 49-year-old Philipsburg man was shot to death May 25 at a gun club. Normally, your average gun club would have to rank among the world's safest places. The potential danger inherent when you have groups of people with loaded guns makes most gun club members, visitors, officers and managers absolute zealots on safe gun handling. Obviously, something was amiss at the...

YOUNGSTOWN — Guns and roughly $2 million worth of drugs seized by the Youngstown Police Department aren't evidence anymore — they're toast. The 7,687 items delivered today to a local steel mill to burn included 595 handguns and 158 rifles, shotguns and other firearms. The firearms had been stored at the department's vice squad in 29 plastic containers and three huge plastic recycling bins. Boxes of marijuana — 500 pounds, in all — and plastic wrapped packages of cocaine, plus hundreds of manila envelopes stuffed with crack cocaine and pharmaceuticals, such as OxyContin, Vicodin, Percodan and diet pills, also were...

SHELBY, Mont., Feb. 17 — The collie in Pen 71 carefully nudges her gleaming steel food bowl, just enough to tip some of the kibbles to the ground. She noses the nuggets into a small hole in the dirt floor and pushes wood chips over them. Rest of story

Sniper Victim's Mother Pleads For Gun Laws ANNAPOLIS, Md., 10:15 p.m. EST February 6, 2003 - The mother of one of the men killed in the sniper shootings made an emotional appeal in Annapolis Thursday for three gun control bills. SNIPER ATTACKS Timeline, Map SNIPER ATTACKS: SPECIAL COVERAGE Sponsors say the bills will plug loopholes or tighten current gun laws. They also hope the legislation will be better received coming on the heels of the sniper killings. "I am here today because I am outraged," said Sonia Wills, whose son, Conrad Johnson (pictured, left), was the last victim of the...

Senate still trying to approve gun bill By JOHN McCARTHY The Associated Press COLUMBUS - A bill to allow Ohioans to carry hidden guns won't pass this year, as far as the House is concerned, but the legislation is proceeding in the Senate, where a vote could take place this week, majority Republicans said Monday. Work continued Monday to recruit supporters, said Sen. Jeff Jacobson, a suburban Dayton Republican who's chairman of the Senate Civil Justice Committee. An amended version of the bill was expected to be introduced today, he said. ''It would be unfortunate to assume anything as to...

Annie Oakley's story is a must read By BOB ROBINSON Tribune Chronicle ''At the height of her career, Annie Oakley was called the most famous woman in America - some said, the world.'' That's how an excellent book on Ohio's ''Little Sure Shot'' begins. The book is ''Annie Oakley'' and the author is Shirl Kasper, a Kansas journalist who writes in her forward that the book is dedicated ''to all the little girls who grew up in the 1950s, as I did, looking for a heroine.'' Ten years ago, Kasper wrote this rip-roarin' biography of Annie Oakley, who was born...

FOP withdraws opposition to bill The Associated Press COLUMBUS - The state's largest police union won't oppose a new version of a bill to allow Ohioans to carry hidden guns, but Gov. Bob Taft still backs the Ohio State Highway Patrol's demand that drivers and their passengers not be allowed to carry them, his spokesman said Tuesday. The signal from the Fraternal Order of Police marked the first time the group has not opposed the idea since 1995, Columbus Police Sgt. Mike Taylor said. Taft says he won't support a bill that police groups oppose. The Senate Civil Justice Committee...

Ohio's concealed carry law puts business owners who carry weapons under the gun Chiree Mccain For Business First Dennis McNamara decided not to take any chances. McNamara had just defended a client in a murder case in Steubenville, and the jury had convicted his client on the lesser charge of manslaughter. Before he left the courthouse, the family of the victim made threats against both client and attorney. So, as the county sheriff escorted McNamara to his car, the attorney asked if he might keep a handgun on the front seat beside him. Many could see that as a reasonable...