Free Republic

Walter Swita has been carrying a gun since a previous attack. YOUNGSTOWN — Walter Swita used a German Luger 9 mm pistol he brought home from World War II to shoot an intruder he suspects robbed him a few weeks ago. The intruder, Benjamin Brooks, 44, of East Philadelphia Avenue, died Sunday at St. Elizabeth Health Center. Swita shot him in the head and chest around 10:30 p.m. Friday. Brooks, whose record included robbery and breaking and entering, lived around the corner from Swita. "Watch out for the blood on the rug," Swita, 83, said as he welcomed a reporter...

  Less than a week after the Cleveland Plain Dealer published Bill Singleton's name among a list of people who have chosen to obtain a license to bear arms for self-defense, Mr. Singleton is dead. When three robbers came to Singleton's business Tuesday morning - they allegedly shot before Singleton had time to react to their demands. In an exchange of gunfire, Singleton and a 17-year-old assailant were shot in the parking lot outside the United Check Cashing store on Lake Shore Boulevard near East 156th Street. Both later died at Huron Hospital.  “As I was outside I had seen...

A revised House Bill 12 was passed by the General Assembly today, and Governor Taft's spokesperson told reporters that he has no objections to the legislation, and plans to sign it as soon as it reaches his desk. The Senate voted 25-8 and the House 69-24. The compromise bill includes a provision allowing the media access to records of license-holders. Ohioans For Concealed Carry, the OFCC PAC, the National Rifle Association and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms have been working for this day for many years.

Taft, House at odds over access to conceal-carry permit lists For the second December in a row, Ohioans are within an inch of being allowed to carry concealed handguns under limited circumstances. Standing in the way of enactment of House Bill 12, which has overwhelming support in both chambers of the Ohio legislature, is Gov. Bob Taft. What’s blocking the bill is not one of the usual issues — where the guns can be carried, safety and training requirements, or protections for police and citizens — but a public-records dispute. In December 2002, conceal-carry was headed toward the governor’s desk...

(CNSNews.com) - A pro-gun group is urging Ohio Gov. Bob Taft to sign a bill that would allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons. The bill isn't perfect, said Ohioans for Concealed Carry, but nevertheless, the group believes it will serve as a deterrent to violent crime. "Ohio's defenseless citizens deserve a law that will allow them the same right to survive a criminal encounter as citizens in every bordering state, and 44 [states] across the nation now enjoy," said Ohioans for Concealed Carry in a press release. The group points to a series of recent carjacking incidents in Ohio...