The Ohio General Assembly, in the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives, have passed two different bills that -- essentially -- allow the carry of concealed firearms into restaurants and certain establishments that serve alcohol.
Of course, the usual suspects are waving their arms in their best Chicken Little fashion and predicting all sorts of rapturish, end-of-the-world mayhem if a combined bill is signed into law. Reportedly, officials at the Ohio Restaurant Association are pressuring Gov. John Kasich to veto the bill.
Once the versions are reconciled between the two houses, and it passes to his desk, he can either sign it into law, veto it, or let it become law without his signature.
A story in today's Columbus Dispatch quotes dissenting bartenders, who wonder how they will tell which patrons are carrying guns. Which is interesting, in my opinion, considering it is common knowledge that bad guys currently carry guns into bars. I wonder how bartenders make that determination now? And how it will change?
Oh, but the difference here is that they have an irrational fear of law-abiding people, but no fear (or head in the sand?) about criminals who currently carry into their bars? That is sick and twisted and NOT in a good way!
READ THE BILL PEOPLE! Ohio CHL (that's concealed handgun license) holders cannot drink while carrying if they enter one of these establishments. Can bartenders guarantee they haven't served criminals previously (that would be people who currently carry a gun into a bar and imbibe)? Nooo...they can't.
Here is hoping that lawmakers reconcile differences, and pass a good bill to Gov. Kasich for his signature. Just as CCW made Ohio safer, such a bill will greatly help reduce the liklihood that a Luby's Cafeteria incident will happen in the Buckeye State.
And if it saves only one life (that is a common refrain of crusading lawmakers), then this is a good law whose time has come. Thank you Ohio lawmakers.
Gov. Kasich? The ball will soon be in your court, and it's time to put your money where your mouth is. That is, prove you are not a threat to Ohio firearms owners or their rights. Demonstrate through your actions, what your surrogates kept saying during last year's gubernatorial campaign.
Now . . . we wait and see.
08 June 2011
Gotta Jump In With Ohio News -- RESTAURANT CARRY!
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5 comments:
"Oh, but the difference here is that they have an irrational fear of law-abiding people, but no fear (or head in the sand?) about criminals who currently carry into their bars? That is sick and twisted and NOT in a good way!"
Well you can't do anything about the people breaking the law but you sure can control the people who naturally abide by the law.
That seems to be the prevailing attitude up here in Canuckistan.
Kind of screwy, we don't crack down on drunk driving by pushing sober drivers, do we?
Now, there's a new twist in restaurants... carry-in. Works for me!!
Ran
I guess this is when the cowboy rides away.
Hey A, thanks for stopping by. No clue what you are talking about. Kasich -- quite the cowboy -- abandoning his traditional squishy position on firearms? If so, yes he did and he has come around after years of wonderment and doubt by thinking Ohioans. If you are wondering where TRE has been, as I noted in the post previous to this one I put it on hiatus for a number of months. Look for it to resume before the end of the year with a new look and re-energized approach. After a year of nonsense comments from the occasional anonymous reader mixed in with thoughtful discourse I decided to give the site a rest. It has been published non-stop since 2007 -- kind of a grand-daddy of gun blogs. Anyway, A, thanks for writing. And I will see you all sometime before the beginning of 2012.
I hope it passes in Ohio. Good luck and god speed. It's not the people that obey the laws you have to worry about it's the ones that don't obey the laws you have to worry about.
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