Going out to eat? Pass the bullets

'Could we afford swimming pools for kids?'
6/24/11
Thumbs up to beautiful homes
6/24/11
Charles Krauthammer: U.S. needs a new way to decide when we’re at war
6/24/11
Treasurer: ‘County finances can be rather complex’
6/24/11
'He's right on target'
6/20/11
> More opinion headlines

10:38 AM Thursday, March 18, 2010

The gun lobby must be feeling pretty comfortable with the advances it’s made in Ohio since the state’s ill-advised concealed-carry law was adopted in 2004. The initial law contained too many restrictions for many gun advocates’ taste, but it was the proverbial foot in the door. And the door has been widening ever since — with incremental changes to loosen reasonable restrictions.

This week, two state senators made an effort to kick the door in.

State Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, and Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, introduced legislation March 16 that would eliminate the current restriction against carrying concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol.

Of course, the restriction exists because alcohol tends to cloud judgment and lower inhibitions, and most people would prefer that those who insist on carrying guns display sound judgment and some reservation about using them.

No need to worry, however, say Sens. Jones and Schaffer. Senate Bill 239 would not change the current law that prohibits a person from possessing a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In other words, when the guy with the handgun in the next booth at your favorite restaurant decides to have a beer or two, he’ll gladly get up and take his Smith & Wesson out to his truck first. Sure.

And why does Ohio need this law? Because every other state is doing it. “Ohio is one of only a few states with this prohibition,” Jones and Schaffer said in a prepared statement.

If that sounds a bit like the reasoning a child gives a parent for wanting to ride his bicycle in traffic, you’re right.

The real reason for the proposed change, of course, is that the National Rifle Association, Ohioans for Concealed Carry and the Buckeye Firearms Association want the restriction lifted, and our state lawmakers, if nothing else, continue to be accommodating to the gun lobby.

Of course, Ohio lawmakers are just following the crowd, like children playing in traffic. In December, Associated Press writer Erik Schelzig reported on “a largely unnoticed trend: In much of the country, it is getting easier to carry guns.” Schelzig found that 24 states have passed 47 new laws loosening existing gun restrictions over the past two years. “The trend is attributed in large part to a push by the National Rifle Association,” Schelzig wrote, which “has ramped up its efforts at the state level to chip away at gun restrictions.”

In Ohio, the Jones-Schaffer bill would also remove restrictions that govern how guns must be transported in cars, again pointing to other states without such restrictions as the reason this change is necessary. Lifting these requirements on securing loaded weapons in cars will make traffic stops for police officers potentially more dangerous and possibly lead to more road-rage incidents. But that’s OK — that’s what other states are doing.

Ohioans should be outraged that their state lawmakers continue to do the bidding of the gun lobby — especially while the state is in fiscal crisis and the unemployment rate hovers at 10.8 percent — with little regard for the violent and deadly consequences that these changes could have on the general population. Eliminating common-sense restrictions because of the insipid “other states don’t have them” rationale adds insult to the injuries — and deaths — that will surely follow.

Share this article