The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security." It's that simple.

Article 1, Section 4 of the Ohio Constitution is as blunt as a bullet. There's no qualifier about "well-regulated militias'' like the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. No wiggle room. Just plain language that says guns are a basic right, as much a part of Ohio as buckeyes and counties named after Indian tribes, such as Huron, Delaware, Ottawa and Wyandot.

Or such as Seneca County, where a judge ruled on Feb. 12 that Ohio's ban on carrying concealed weapons (CCW) is unconstitutional. The same thing happened first here in Hamilton County. And now the Ohio Supreme Court is expected to hear the Hamilton County case on April 15.

Ohio is unarmed

Many expect the court to rule likewise: Ohio's ban on packing violates the simple language in the state constitution.

Makes sense. How can Ohio residents "bear arms for their defense and security" if they have to leave their guns at home or locked in the trunk of their car?

If the court strikes down the state law, "Now it really will be the Wild West, with no training, no background checks and no law at all," said Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township. "We want to put Ohio in the mainstream," he said, by passing a House bill to allow concealed carry after 12-16 hours of training and background checks.

He said Cincinnati FOP President Roger Webster will testify in favor and the bill could pass the House next week.

Seitz hopes CCW will help curb crime in Cincinnati. "The rate of homicides is out of control. The current strict anti-concealed carry laws are not deterring crime. By arming law-abiding citizens, it will possibly deter crime."

Guns reduce crime

Gun-phobics go off like a hair-trigger when they hear stuff like that. But a study of FBI statistics by economist John Lott of the American Enterprise Institute showed that CCW reduces crime: "Analyzing county level data for the entire United States from 1977 to 2000, we find annual reductions in murder rates between 1.5 and 2.3 percent for each additional year that a right-to-carry law is in effect."

That makes sense, too. Although only 1-2 percent of citizens usually obtain a permit to pack, that's enough to create fear among the bad guys who don't care about gun regulations or any other laws.

Thanks mainly to Gov. Taft, who ran as an advocate of CCW and then flip-flopped and now threatens to veto the law, Ohio looks like an island of stupidity surrounded by a sea of gun-rights sanity.

"The amazing thing about Ohio," said Joe Waldron of the Second Amendment Foundation in Washington, D.C., "is that every state contiguous to Ohio is a shall-issue state,'' meaning they have the strongest CCW laws. "Yet in Ohio we hear the same old tired lines about blood in the gutters and shootouts at fender-benders. In every case, they have proven to be false fears."

He says 43 states now have CCW laws.

Ohio should make it 44.

The Constitution already says so.

E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.