Drunk and Armed: On Duty with the Ohio State Highway Patrol
By Gerard Valentino
Ohio’s concealed carry law was stonewalled for years by the opposition of the Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucrats, who refused to endorse any bill that allowed law-abiding citizens to carry concealed loaded guns in a vehicle. Finally, after years of debate, public opinion overwhelmed the Highway Patrol’s opposition, and Ohio became the 46th state to pass a concealed carry law.
The State Highway Patrol administration was successful, however, in using its lobbying power to poison the legislation with the now infamous “open car carry” provision that requires license holders to keep their gun holstered in plain site while in a vehicle. No other state has such a ludicrous provision in their concealed carry law, and many even allow guns to be carried in cars without a license.
Although the Highway Patrol could not point to one instance where a legally carried gun was used against law-enforcement, they still insisted that guns in cars need to be carried in plain sight in the name of officer safety (a silly demand considering a gun that is not concealed is quicker into action).
Although the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s administration claims carrying a gun in plain sight means the owner is less likely to kill someone, it did not stop Trooper Joshua Risner, who while carrying his gun in plain sight, got drunk on duty, chose to drive his patrol cruiser drunk, and then killed three people when he lost control - because in Ohio it is not currently illegal for a Trooper to drive drunk on official duty, even while carrying a gun.
You can read the rest of the article here:
http://buckeyefirearms.org/article3345.html
By Gerard Valentino
Ohio’s concealed carry law was stonewalled for years by the opposition of the Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucrats, who refused to endorse any bill that allowed law-abiding citizens to carry concealed loaded guns in a vehicle. Finally, after years of debate, public opinion overwhelmed the Highway Patrol’s opposition, and Ohio became the 46th state to pass a concealed carry law.
The State Highway Patrol administration was successful, however, in using its lobbying power to poison the legislation with the now infamous “open car carry” provision that requires license holders to keep their gun holstered in plain site while in a vehicle. No other state has such a ludicrous provision in their concealed carry law, and many even allow guns to be carried in cars without a license.
Although the Highway Patrol could not point to one instance where a legally carried gun was used against law-enforcement, they still insisted that guns in cars need to be carried in plain sight in the name of officer safety (a silly demand considering a gun that is not concealed is quicker into action).
Although the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s administration claims carrying a gun in plain sight means the owner is less likely to kill someone, it did not stop Trooper Joshua Risner, who while carrying his gun in plain sight, got drunk on duty, chose to drive his patrol cruiser drunk, and then killed three people when he lost control - because in Ohio it is not currently illegal for a Trooper to drive drunk on official duty, even while carrying a gun.
You can read the rest of the article here:
http://buckeyefirearms.org/article3345.html