The Senate Judiciary on Criminal Justice Committee, chaired by Sen. Tim Grendell (R-18), will hear proponent testimony on SB239, sponsored by Senator Shannon Jones and Senator Tim Schaffer to allow citizens who hold a valid concealed handgun license (CHL) to carry a firearm in restaurants, and to reduce burdensome restrictions regarding how a license holder must transport a firearm in a car, on Wednesday, April 14 at 10:15 AM in the Senate Building's South Hearing Room.

"This bill makes Ohio's laws more consistent with the norm for what other states are doing," said Senator Jones. "Six years after concealed carry became law in Ohio we have not experienced the lawlessness or 'doom and gloom' predictions that some claimed would come true. Ohio gun owners have proven themselves just as responsible as those in other states, and this refinement of our concealed carry laws is a logical next step to help our citizens legally protect themselves and their families."

By Jim Shepherd

For the past few days we've been asking our industry contacts, insiders and observers a simple question: has the Obama gun-bubble burst?

Since President Obama's election, certain segments of the firearms industry have been running at full -and beyond- capacity. Some, myself included, were quick to attribute the early surge in firearms and ammunition purchases to a fear that the Obama administration would move - quickly- against firearms. That, fortunately, has not happened.

Over the past few weeks, we've been hearing - quietly- of cutbacks, layoffs and other "right-sizing" going on at companies where extra shifts were the order of the day only a few weeks ago. With ammo supplies building up, components for reloading becoming more readily available, and the economy still wavering, it seemed the firearms industry might be slowing.

With that in mind, we've visited retailers, talked with distributors, manufacturers and industry observers with a single, simple question: has the Obama bubble burst?

We even asked you- our readers- for your insights, based on your own local experiences.

From those conversations, phone calls, observations and email exchanges, it has become abundantly clear there are two distinctly different schools of thought on the matter.