From the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:

ELYRIA � County Sheriff Phil Stammitti sued Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann on Wednesday, asking a county judge to declare unconstitutional a 2004 state law that requires Stammitti to provide the names of those who apply for concealed carry permits to journalists.
The lawsuit also asks the court to determine whether Ohioans for Concealed Carry President Jeff Garvas, who also is named in the suit, is a journalist.

Stammitti wants county Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi, who was assigned the case, to decide whether he should be allowed to disclose the names and other information of permit holders to anyone, including journalists.

The law currently allows the release of the names and other information on permit holders only to journalists.
Stammitti’s lawsuit was sparked by a Feb. 26 letter from Garvas that requested the information, arguing that a journalist is anyone who disseminates information to the general public. One of his jobs, Garvas wrote, is to provide news in a quarterly newsletter and on the organization’s Web site.

This isn’t the first time, Garvas said, that he’s has been sued for requesting the information on concealed weapon permit holders from a county sheriff. Sheriffs in Clermont, Erie and Mercer counties already have filed similar suits in an effort to determine whether Garvas is entitled to the information.

Garvas said a Mercer County judge declared he was a journalist. The other two lawsuits haven’t been resolved.

Stammitti contends that he’s being asked to differentiate between journalists and non-journalists when it comes to what information he can release, and that the law violates provisions of the Constitution. Stammitti, the lawsuit says, could face criminal or civil sanctions for making the wrong call when deciding who is a journalist.

Ohioans for Concealed Carry's Daniel White reports "Clermont County, Mercer County, and Erie County have already filed suits, with Mercer County already deciding that the information could be released to just about anyone."

The liberal MSM uses these lists to intimidate gun owners and treat them like criminals. Access to these records should be closed off. Governor Strickland seems to agree, and appears to be willing to ignore the advice of his Lt. Governor, Lee "I've never met a gun control bill I didn't like" Fisher, who was on the board of directors of Handgun Control Inc. Strickland is clearly more concerned about avoiding the wrath of 2nd amendment advocates than worried about any complaints he might recieve from Ohio Democrat politicians or anti-gun opinion page editors.