36!

36! - Ohio's governor Taft signs a shall-issue bill.

Lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday to allow Ohioans to carry concealed guns, and Gov. Bob Taft said he will sign it.

Those who apply for the permits would have to pay a fee, undergo background checks and be trained in the use of a weapon.

The bill also makes the names of permit holders available to reporters. Taft's insistence on this provision had derailed the bill late last year.

The Senate vote was 25-8, and the House vote was 69-24.

Taft, a Republican, said in a statement that the bill was a reasonable compromise that "balances the Second Amendment rights I have strongly supported with public safety and public records concerns."

The challenge, of course, is that bit about making names of permit holders available to the press. Enbanc asks about this provision:

What really bothers me is that it seems likely to me that the Cleveland Plain Dealer doesn't really care at all about "public access." I mean, what is the real benefit of such access? Would anyone exercise it? Even if a "public right to know" seems abstractly attractive as a principle, it seems minor and largely irrelevant in this case. And considering the paper's longstanding opposition to concealed carry, I have trouble believing that this is anything more than a thinly veiled attempt to dissuade Ohio citizens from exercising their rights as provided by the 2nd Amendment and the new Ohio statute. I consider that a cheap political ploy, and an abuse of journalistic power.

Of course, the newspaper probably doesn't know who they are messing with. Scroll down a couple stories at this site to see a representative reaction from the online firearm community:

As soon as they publish permit holders' names, we'll publish the names, phone numbers and home addresses of every single person on staff at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

That's the first thing that would happen, and I have little doubt the reaction (via phone calls, emails, letters, etc.) would be tremendous. The second would be a quiet little bill next term which removed even journalist's access to the information.

I'll publish them here - and I urge any other bloggers who are interested in fighting this abuse of journalistic power to do it, too.

(Via Alphecca) and The Professor)

Posted by Mitch at January 13, 2004 06:25 AM