Here is another opinion article in the news section of the paper by journalists who has not done their homework...

Without public access to the names of people who would be allowed to carry concealed weapons, it would be nearly impossible to tell whether the law is working as intended and make sure the permits wind up solely in the hands of upstanding citizens, officials of government watchdog groups said Friday.

The bill requires the DOJ to publish statistics on the effectiveness of the bill. Not necessary.

Second issue, the bill does not require the permits to be in the hands of "upstanding citizens", just law-abiding citizens who are not a danger to themselves or others. By this yardstick, the newspapers could crucify a person as a "bad citizen” even though they have not broken the law.

There would be no need for public records laws "if we could rely on public officials to do the right thing," said Lee, an attorney in Dixon, Ill. "The whole idea of democracy is to allow that public check . . . to confirm people are doing what they are supposed to be doing and that legislation has its desired effect."

It seems to me that the Journal-Sentinel has just maligned the Attorney General. They imply with this quote against a public official who could not be trusted to do the right thing. AG Peg Lautenschlager should take umbrage with this statement.

Ohio lawmakers also are moving to close journalists' access to the permits. The general public in the Buckeye state already does not have access to the records, said Kara Joseph, legislative aide to Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr. (R-Cincinnati).

Brinkman is sponsoring legislation to make the records secret after newspapers published the names of everyone who applied for a concealed-carry permit, Joseph said.

In Cleveland, a person whose name who was printed was robbed and killed days later, Joseph said. While no one has connected the murder to the fact that the name was published, it raised concerns, she said.

She said others whose names were published called lawmakers to complain that they were being harassed.

That is the problem...