Ohio House votes to relax gun laws; unruly drunks beware

As the Plain Dealer and other papers report this morning, the Ohio House on Wednesday approved an NRA-supported bill that would loosen the restrictions on where registered gun owners can carry their weapons. If the bill passes the Senate (this is Ohio; why wouldn't it?) and Governor Ted Strickland signs it (this is Ohio; why wouldn't he?), legal owners will be able to carry unloaded guns in their cars, unlocked and with ammunition at the ready. You know, in case they have to shoot someone on the way to the office. A smaller piece of the legislation -- it didn't make the Columbus Dispatch's story, and was relegated to the sidebar in the PD's -- would allow both bar owners and "special deputy police officers" working in bars to carry weapons. Which is a lot like serving $1 Long Islands at a shooting range: unnecessary, rather dangerous, but potentially entertaining, albeit with the risk of getting a bullet lodged in your pancreas. ...