Ohio Dems tried to illegally obtain CCW permit holders’ info to launch anti-gun campaign Updated
Liberals in Ohio have quite a track snooping on private citizens. Democrat state officials abused their access and plundered through Joe the Plumber’s records. And now, the Ohio Democrat Party has been caught trying to illegally obtain info on concealed carry permit holders in the Buckeye State in order to bombard them with anti-gun propaganda.
Fortunately, one responsible Democrat blew the whistle and put the brakes on the privacy invasion – via Cleveland Plain Dealer, hat tip: reader Tyler:
The Ohio Democratic Party tried unsuccessfully this week to get information on all people licensed to carry concealed weapons in the Buckeye State.
The state party sent letters to Ohio’s 88 sheriffs requesting the names and addresses of permit holders and the dates the licenses were issued. Ohio has about 211,000 permit holders.
But neither the Democrats nor any other political party can get that information. The records are exempt from the public record laws. The only public access was given to journalists when then-Gov. Bob Taft signed the law in 2004.
Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti, a Democrat, denied the request Friday.
“I must also advise you that the information you are requesting is NOT a public record and CANNOT be released,” Stammitti wrote in a letter to the party.
The Democrats intended to target people who support the Second Amendment — the constitutional right to bear arms — with campaign information, said party spokesman, Seth Bringman.
***
Update: An Ohio reader with a CCW permit, Michael Cullison, weighs in with a different take on the story than other readers have given me. Would appreciate any other feedback from Ohio CCW permit-holders:
I am an Ohio CCW permit holder and have been since the original law went into effect in 2004. I am also a conservative Republican, so I have no love for the Democraps. But I used to be a pretty fair journalist and I can’t stand to see shoddy, inaccurate reporting, even if it’s on a blog.
Ohio’s General Assembly passed the first concealed carry law in late 2003. That law took effect in April 2004. There was a provision in the law that allowed journalists to access the names and addresses of all CHLs in each county simply by making a records request to the sheriff in each county. Ohio has 88 counties and 88 sheriffs and they are the ones who issue the CHLs and retain the records.
Several newspapers in the state, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer, severely abused the access to this information and regularly printed the names and addresses of CHL holders. The PD made it a regular item each month, publishing all the new CHLs issued in the previous 30 days.
CHL holders were justifiably outraged at this behavior on the part of at least a half dozen or more newspapers and many of our legislators also thought it was an abusive practice. Therefore, when they wrote a CCW modification bill to clean up some of the parts of the original statute, they modified the public access section of the law and took away the right of journalists to request lists of CHL holders. Now a journalist must physically visit a sheriff’s office to see the records and they are not allowed to copy said records or even take a notebook or recording device along when they do the viewing. That law was signed by Ted Strickland in June 2008 and took effect in September 2008.
It’s hardly surprising that the people in the Ohio Democrap Party would not know any details of how Ohio’s CCW law works. They made what they thought was a legitimate request to all 88 sheriffs for what they assumed was a public record. Since the law was changed in 2008, the sheriffs denied the request. If this had been some covert fishing expedition they would hardly have sent the letter to all 88 sheriffs since at least half of them are Republicans who would have reported any hanky panky. As it was, it was my sheriff, Democrat Phil Stammitti, who notified the media.
Mr. Cullison does not believe Dems were trolling for names to send CCW permit-holders anti-gun literature, as several other readers believe. His take:
On the contrary, the Democraps want to troll for votes among CHL holders because the NRA has endorsed Ted Strickland in the governor’s race. They’re trying to play right to the gun community in that race and hoping to make those same voters forget that their Senate candidate, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, is a rabid anti-gun zealot. They also hope to keep control of the Ohio House by any means they can find, since they want to control the Ohio Apportionment Board that will draw the new congressional and legislative districts once the census data is released to the states.
John Kasich, the GOP candidate for governor, has an uphill battle to win the gun rights vote this year because the voted for Clinton’s Assault Weapons Ban and many will never forgive him for that vote. The Democraps are trying to use the gun issue to their advantage since their candidate for governor already has the NRA endorsement and their candidate for attorney general, Richard Cordray, will surely get the NRA’s backing. They’re using the Rahm Emanuel playbook from 2006 to try to make their candidates look okay on gun issues. So far they appear to be succeeding.
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Categories: Guns
JustOneMinute
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The obsession these anti-gun nuts have in taking away the guns of responsible citizens in the absence of any reliable data that people like me owning guns is dangerous to society is astonishing. There is only reason these people would want to take our guns away: they mean to do us harm and one of the main obstacles is that we have guns to protect ourselves.
I would think that CCW permit holders are generally pro-gun. The Ohio Democrat Party is stuck on stupid.
Is anyone truly surprised?
P*ssed off, sure…but surprised, nope.
How do we know that was their intent? Are supposed to just trust them, especially after what they did?
I think the Dems had more in mind than just mailing them “campaign information”… I think that some form of intimidation (a la SEIU) is more likely.
Also, if the Dems did have plans of confiscating weapons at some point in the future, they would find this informaiton very helpful…
Not surprised by this. 4 poop for brains Justices voting against the 2nd Ammendment only gives some the idea that our Rights are not rights at all. I cannot understand how even anti-gun advocates don’t see the danger of losing any Right as the stepping stone of losing them all.
Wait I thoughht you could not use “comabt euphimisms” as it could be taken literally? Remeber when they said that about Sarah Palin and how they are now claiming that about Sharon Angle:
And Harry Reid will come out and denounce the remarks by party spokesman, Seth Bringmanin 3….2…1….oh wait he is a Democrat…Nevermind.
Sorry, but to Joe the Plumber, CCW is “Counter Clockwise.”
“Rule of law” means nothing to progressives and Democrats…
This qualifies for my ‘you can’t make up this crapola’ award for the day! I’m done. To have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt how utterly stupid these people are is estounding.
Imagine the firestorm if some state Republican Party chairman had gone to Planned Parenthood and asked for the names of all women who had received an abortion in the past several years, so that the party could send out anti-abortion literature.
Seth Bringman is a liar.
I foresee a lot of weapons lost overboard in boating accidents.
The anti-gun culture thrives in academia (remember, Bill Ayers said that “…education is the motor-force of revolution…”)
Check out the story that got featured as the headline story on Duke University’s “Duke Today” web site yesterday.
(I archived the link to preserve the appearance of that page)
The featured headline story was:
The “Note to Editors” says: (emphasis mine)
And now let’s look at the brilliance (sarc) of her argument:
No evidence needed to back up her assertion that increased gun ownership results in increased lethal violence… it’s merely a “seemingly self-evident truth” that she doesn’t have to prove!
Well, I’ll tell you what I consider a “self-evident truth”…
When a violent “shooter” is killing dozens of people, the only thing that stops the “bad guy” is a “good guy” with a gun.
That’s true whether you are talking about Virginia Tech or Fort Hood.
I consider a “self-evident truth” that the more “good guys” who carry guns, the less evil the “bad guys” with guns can do.
On June 30th, 2010 at 3:31 pm, J S Ragman said:
+1!
I don’t live in Ohio, but if I did, these idiots could approach any door in my house, and find window stickers advising them that there was nothing inside worth dying for.
MOLON LABE
Several years ago, a “journalist” obtained a list of CCW permit holders and published it in their fishwrap, skirting the letter of the law. All to further their anti-gun agenda.
Pure evil.
Forgot to mention the aforementioned “journalist” was in Ohio.
Well it’s safe to say we don’t need to see the list of CCB (Concealed Carry Brain) permits owned by Democrats!
If not 100% of the entire party nationwide, at least its leadership and most of its members.
The Bloomington (IN) newspaper was publishing names of people here who had gun permits. Then surprise, surprise, those people had break-ins to steal the guns.
Golden opportunity missed….sending idiot Democratic operatives to the houses of gun owners to try to convince them to give up their guns.
It’s called “culling the herd”.
TO: Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles
FM: Ohio Democratic Party
Subj: Fuel Efficiency
Please send us the registrations for all vehicles that get less than an EPA average of 22 miles-per-gallon.
Thank you,
C.M. Crapmeister,
Chairman
The democrat party has turned into a mob of goons, thugs, extortionists, and every other crooked name you can conjure up.
Yeah, I really want Uncle Sam handling my medical records. They can conveniently produce information that suits their political needs and scream privacy and confidentiality when it might hurt them.
Amazing no one can get Obama’s Birth Certificate out of cold storage. If it were a Republican it would have been online a year ago.
If anyone still thinks it is a conspiracy theory wanting Obama’s documents that show some of his past history, I’d like to see them if our so-called investigative journalists have seen them and can validate this with some proof other than generalities.
Please someone, give us a history on Obama for the his past life.
As my wife and I are moving to Ohio soon, within a few months (45-day residency reqt) there will be 211,002.
TO: Ohio Department of Sanitation
FM: Ohio Democratic Party
Subj: Recyclables
Please send us the addresses of all customers who consistently throw away items that should be recycled.
Thank you,
C.M. Crapmeister,
Chairman
cc: Hangfire
A theory I have of one reason why the donks love turd world immigrants, both legal and illegal, and may be hoping for TEH WON to sign an executive order for shamnesty (it lets them off the hook for the decision), is that turd worlders are used to their politicians and bureaucrats back in the old country being goons, thugs, extortionists, corrupt, and crooked.
They evidently don’t expect anything different in the US and accept it here as standard operating political procedure having had no prior personal experience with any honest politicians and bureaucrats. With the constant blanting of the mantra “the GOP is “for the rich” directed at them, they make a perfect voting bloc for Demoncrats.
Which begs the question… What’s the real reason they wanted the names?
Deemocrats are outlaws.
Simple. True. Learn to deal with it.
In their minds, they just follow “living law”, ignoring, using law as a widely and vaguely interpreted guideline, or just making law up to suit their nefarious purposes.
Also, a good reason never to allow attorneys to serve in political offices.
How do we know for sure that every sheriff complied when told not to send the info?
Some judge should require the ‘party’ to pay for public service announcements explaining that anyone with a CC permit should watch for literature/any activity that may indicate that their name got out.
I would sure hope they were not thinking of going after the people with CCW’s as they would be armed and probably more than able to defend themselves….
Once again another Dem plan that was not well thought out.
Hmm. That’s a good point. When I apply for my permit, I’ll use a version of my name that I don’t use for anything else. That way I’ll know.
Dexter … OT … but FYI … I posted your requested “RI” limerick in #90 of the open borders thread …
I seem to recall a there was newspaper in Virginia that pulled that same tactic of getting all of the gun registrations, not just the CCW permits, and printed it for everyone to see a couple of years ago … anyone else remember that?
I did that when writing my libtard-congress-critter, and you know what? They wrote back with my CORRECTED name…they know. they know.
Nothing is as it seems. There are many nefarious reasons to get these names. The names on the list will probably be visited in the dark of night. End of story.
I might add that they would only give up their guns bullets first.
+1
I highly doubt as well that their true goal was to send them literature. If I were to guess, it was likely more about doing their own background checks on these individuals in the hope of filling propaganda via a “Can you imagine someone like this carrying a concealed weapon” campaign.
…posted before I saw Doug’s update above. Michael Cullison’s prediction is interesting as well, but it still seems unlikely to me that the average CHL holder would be persuaded by the Dems.
Ha ha, good one! Thanks!
Here in TN back when I got my permit (about ’97) the Tennessean newspaper printed all permit holders names and addresses in the paper. How’s that for privacy!
To: Michelle Malkin
Fm: Ohio Democratic Party
Subj: Your Website
Please send us the e-mail addresses of everyone subscribing to your site.
Also send us the head of Doug Powers.
Thank you,
C.M. Crapmeister,
Chairperson
Dex — we need your vote here in Colorado more than ever! What are you thinking?
Mr. Cullison is correct regarding the circumstances. I remember well the uproar over the publication of CCW applicants names and addresses. I believe also that the request for information was made in ignorance of the relatively recent law restricting access. His theory regarding their intentions seems sound.
It is wise to have a few guns off the book as it were. The damn background checks and ATF forms are nothing but a backdoor registration scheme. The cry babies will lie about it but lying is all they do.
Printing names and addresses may be good for burglars–a class our msm seems to admire. Publishing the names, phone numbers and addresses of such journalist and their editors might be a good retort. You might want to note and publish what hours they leave for work and the house is empty, location of phone wires and such. Hell, video tape them over fence and tell them they look like Sara Palin.
Ain’t payback grand?
===
Let your sidearm be like Master Card:
Don’t Leave home without it.
Yeah, stay in beautiful Colorado (except eastern).
Ohio is flatter than Keira Knightly.
Unless you have a Bob Evans or Hickory Farms franchise, I’d stay in Colorado.
By Mr. Cullison’s own admission, prior to the law, the publication of the information of CCW license holders was used as an intimidation tactic – there is no reason to give the media the benefit of the doubt by assuming their intent to use the information was innocent, as they had already misused and abused their power in the past. In combination with the NRA’s leftist leanings as of late, the story remains even more suspicious. By bombarding every office in the state, they were obviously hoping that some of the sheriff’s offices would slip up, or was sympathetic to the DNC.
There is no “illegal” for Democrats, just the “unfortunate circumstance of being thwarted in doing what ‘must’ be done ‘by any means necessary’”.
That would make them, in lib-speak, “legally challenged,” which goes right along with ethically challenged, morally challenged, and logically challenged.
Well someday if the excretment hits the fan you will find all of the gun haters cowering behind a wall of locked and loaded gun owners.
Times do change.
It’s Big Brother masquerading as a mild mannered marketing plan.
They only want a list of names and addresses for Obama’s civilian defense “corpse” to visit once the UN gun grab treaty is ratified.
All I can say is no one is going to show up on my property and have any of my firearms until they have collected all my ammunition. Pointy end first.
wildcat84 said:
I second that motion – I live in Farm Country and, well enough said
Not this gun owner, they can hang out at a local gov’t building and not my church where we will gather to protect our flock.
GSP
So, based on the updated story, it seems that Ohio has the choice between voting for a gun grabbing Republican and a gun grabbing Democrat.
Yes, we need party purity tests.
I spent almost $200 on a Concealed Carry Weapons permit because….(these b-tards can find me and take it from me?) This is not going to happen. I will voluntarily give them all of my ammo as it comes out of the barrel.