Ohio Police Group That Fought Concealed Carry Being Investigated For Improperly Receiving Homeland Security Grants

The state is questioning whether the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police qualified for $21 million in federal Homeland Security money and whether it was spent properly.

"Over three years, the chiefs association received more than half the money allocated to Ohio through the Local Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program -- one of five federal programs that hand out Department of Homeland Security money. The money more than tripled the association's annual budget."

It should be noted that OACP fought tooth and nail against concealed carry, sorely needed citizen safety legislation, in the Ohio General Assembly four years ago. More recently, OACP testified in favor of classifying Ohio concealed carry licensee data as public records, and opening them up to the public for review. This would have made it easy to criminals to know who keeps firearms at their homes. This is an interesting opinion, according to the Society of Professional Journalists, considering that OACP "is not usually counted among the state's fiercest advocates of open government."

In the end, access to Ohio Concealed Handgun License licensee records (restricted to journalists only), was tightened despite OACP objections.

The investigation over Homeland Security funds continues to unfold. Stay tuned!