The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported recently that a man staved off a drunken, knife-wielding attacker by pretending that he was reaching for a gun.

From the article:

A 33-year-old man pulled into his St. Mark Avenue driveway about 2 a.m. Thursday. A 32-year-old man, later identified as Rayshawn Scott, walked briskly up to his window with his hands behind his back. "What's up now!" Scott said, swinging his hands around to reveal an eight-and-a-half inch butcher knife, according to the report. As Scott moved the knife toward the driver's face, the driver reached into his waistband as if he was pulling out a gun, hoping to scare the man off, according to police. Scott lowered the knife and ran into an idling Ford Taurus and drove away. When police officers arrived, they found Scott sitting in the Taurus on a lawn of the house directly across the street. The knife lay on the passenger seat of the running car, the report said. Police arrested Scott. He is charged with driving under suspension, driving while intoxicated and driving on a sidewalk or lawn.

According to the article, police also referred the victim to city prosecutors to press possible menacing charges.

The report also notes that records show Scott, who lives near the victim on Bosworth Road, was indicted on burglary, attempted murder, felonious assault and domestic violence charges in 2010. He eventually pleaded to felonious assault and domestic violence, and served two years in prison.

According to a study commissioned by Attorney General Mike DeWine in 2012, 1 percent of Ohio’s adult prison population since 1974 is responsible for 57 percent of the state’s violent felony convictions. The findings prompted DeWine to call for legislation, dubbed the Violent Career Criminal Act, that would keep such felons behind bars much longer.

The legislation, Sen. Jim Highes' (R) Senate Bill 121, calls for a mandatory 11-year prison sentence for those convicted of illegally possessing a gun, if they have previously been convicted of two or more violent felonies. Currently, a felon convicted of illegally possessing a firearm faces only one to five years imprisonment.

Unfortunately, the Ohio Senate has failed to act on the bill. If legislators do not act, SB 121 will die at the end of December, along with many pro-gun bills that are pending.

If you want to see the General Assembly act to cramp down on criminals, as well as to improve gun rights in ways that are already enjoyed by the majority of other states, call your Representative and Senator NOW and ask them when pro-gun legislation is going to move in Ohio. They want your vote in November. Tell them we want their votes too.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.