Imagine loaded guns in family restaurants and in crowded bars. Imagine loaded guns at a sold-out Ohio State football game or Cincinnati Reds baseball game.
Last week a bill allowing permit holders to carry concealed guns into bars, restaurants and sporting events that serve alcohol passed the Ohio Senate.
It's now in the hands of Ohio House members --- including our Representative in the 24th District, Ted Celeste --- to kill this bill.
Please sign our online petition below, so we can let Ted Celeste and the other members of the Ohio House know that you don't think guns and alcohol mix and that the Ohio House should bury Senate Bill 239.
The Ohio Restaurant Association opposes the measure, as does the state's Fraternal Order of Police.
Editorial staffs of major Ohio newspapers have come out against the measure:
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Columbus Dispatch: The right-leaning Columbus Dispatch came out against the bill yesterday, and last month they also argued persuasively against the bill.
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The Plain Dealer Editorial Board: "Booze and guns: A stupider idea and deadlier mix can hardly be imagined."
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Toledo Blade: "Guns-in-bars legislation is a bad idea because firearms don't belong in any place that serves alcohol."
A couple other interesting viewpoints:
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Huffington Post: Another Month, Another Batch of CCW Killings: "...at least 166 individuals that have been killed by concealed handgun permit holders since May 2007. Included in this number are nine law enforcement officers. Not included are incidents where concealed handgun permit holders have tried to kill law enforcement personnel and failed..."
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The Athens News: "the bill is intended to exclusively benefit that rare individual who patronizes a bar but declines to drink. And how is that provision going to be enforced anyway?