Despite the facts eventually showing on Monday morning that the Somali-born Ohio State University (OSU) student who mauled fellow Buckeyes with his car and a butcher’s knife, Yahoo! News breaking news reporter Caitlin Dickson felt it was worthwhile to still flaunt the issue of control and how the early reports that the assailant had a gun “spur[red]” a “look” at Ohio’s gun laws.
Dickson’s lede recapped the day’s events with “at least nine people” injured “after a male attacker reportedly drove his car into a crowd of pedestrians and then stabbed them with a butcher knife” at OSU before noting that it was originally thought to have been the act of someone with a gun.
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Upon setting the scene, Dickson went right to guns, explaining that “Ohio is one of the most gun-friendly states in the country, with both concealed and open carry permitted under state law (PDF)” even though “restrictions apply to colleges and universities.”
“On campus grounds, concealed handguns are not permitted even with a license, unless the gun is locked inside a vehicle on campus. Open carry on school grounds is, therefore, also not permitted,” she added.
Dickson went further in providing a series of bullet points about the Buckeye State “not requir[ing] a permit or license in order to purchase or possess a rifle, handgun or shotgun” with the final one along with an interactive chart courtesy of the pro-gun control group The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence that rated states from 0-100 on it’s “strictness” of gun control.
Once again, the only gun used in Monday’s incident was by the heroic Ohio State police officer named Alan Horujko who shooting dead suspected knife-wielding perpetrator Abdul Razak Ali Artan. Alas, the doesn’t seem to have stopped some in the media from wanting to talk about guns when it comes to what transpired.
Whether they’ll examine his history as a refugee from Somalia and possible inspirations is yet be seen, so be sure to stay tuned to this site where we’ll have the latest media coverage and hot takes.
