Concealed guns: Ohio's giant leap forward. Not.

HOW GOOD it was to read today that our Buckeye State is "catching up with the 1990s.'' The authoritative source for this long-awaited breakthrough from our rust-belted past was Jim Irvine, of the Buckeye Firearms Assn. as he celebrated the arrival of frontier days in the state.

As you might know, the Republican state legislature is sending to Gov. Kasich a concealed-gun measure for his signature, a technicality since he's been rooting for such a bill for a long time. It was about time, Irvine figured, to let the state rise to new heights in concealed weaponry. In fact, our savvy lawmakers have put Ohio in the forefront of the broadest of laws that will enable people to tote firearms into bars, restaurants and athletic arenas so long as they don't drink the spirits or decide to shoot anybody, whichever comes first..

Indeed, I confess to be a little confused by the reasoning of the law's proponents that ignored the resistance of the Ohio Restaurant Assn. and Ohio Fraternal Order of police.

For example, one chap explained the measure was necessary to rid gun owners of the inconvenience of leaving their guns in their cars when they entered a bar simply to play the juke box. Heavens, how many people do you know who patronize these spots for reasons other than to have a drink? Or drinks?

But the shuddering anti-concealed gun crowd lost big on this one. I was particularly interested in the bar owner quoted in the Plain Dealer who reassured the doubters that the law made a whole lot of sense as an upgrading societal moment in Ohio history. The guy said, "I just think everybody's safer when everybody has guns." There's a lot of that profound logic going around these days.