Pat Feely and Chuck Klein have an ally in their bid to legalize carrying concealed weapons in Ohio.

As Hamilton County's prosecutor, Mike Allen is fighting to preserve the Ohio law that forbids carrying hidden handguns and which was overturned as unconstitutional Wednesday by the 1st District Ohio Court of Appeals. Allen the person, though, supports the right to carry.

''We ought to have it,'' Allen said of a pending bill to allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons. ''In the states that have it, crime goes down.''

While he believes law-abiding and properly certified Ohioans should be allowed to carry weapons, Allen believes lawmakers - not judges - should make the change.

''Unless there is a clear and palpable abuse of power, a court should not substitute its judgment for legislative discretion,'' Allen said after Wednesday's ruling.

''The proper forum for a concealed carry law is passage through the Ohio General Assembly where lawmakers can take the case directly to the people of Ohio.''

The Ohio House of Representatives has passed a concealed carry bill that would require background checks and training for those who want a permit to carry handguns. That measure is now before the Senate.

Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale, seemed to indicate the Senate could await a ruling on concealed carry from the Ohio Supreme Court - if the justices agree to hear the case - rather than move on the bill.

''I would hope that the justices quickly take up this important issue,'' Finan said in a statement. ''We will be watching the court's review of the case with great interest.''

Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery filed a notice of appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court within hours of Wednesday's ruling and also asked the justices to issue an emergency stay of the court's ruling.

''The lower court's decision places law enforcement personnel at risk, and the citizens of Hamilton County, by allowing individuals to carry concealed firearms, . . .'' state lawyers wrote in their motion. They argued the 1st District ruling ignores an Ohio Supreme Court decision from 1920 that established there is no fundamental or constitutional right for Ohioans to carry concealed weapons.

The Ohio Supreme Court could rule on a stay as early as today, said Joe Case, a spokesman for Ms. Montgomery.

Feely, Klein and the others who challenged the law contend lawmakers have had 100 years to implement a law that would allow law-abiding Ohioans to carry concealed weapons legally.

There have been several concealed carry bills in recent years, Feely said, but Gov. Bob Taft has told legislators he wouldn't sign them. ''In the meantime, you still are charged with a felony,'' Feely said.

That's exactly what happened to Feely when he was delivering food to local canteen trucks at construction sites. In his job, he often carried as much as $3,000 in cash - and a gun.

When he was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon, he had to use an ''affirmative defense'' to the crime. He was arrested, strip-searched, jailed and taken to court, where he won his case by proving he needed the gun for work. And he would have had to continue to do that each time he was arrested in the future for carrying a concealed weapon.

That is the only ''defense'' under current Ohio law.

In January, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman declared the Ohio law violated state and U.S. constitutional rights to bear arms, and the Cincinnati-based 1st District Court of Appeals agreed with him Wednesday.

For Feely, the ruling gave him some redemption.

''(Now) I don't have to worry about going through it. I know I'm helping other people by doing it and I like to think it would help save somebody's life someday,'' he said.

''How many people have (authorities) put in jail because because they were afraid they were going to be murdered?'' asked Bill Gustavson, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Klein and others seeking to overturn the law.

''What an outrage for the government to treat its people that way. Pat Feely is an American hero.''