The January 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 920,840 is an increase of 17.3 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 784,856 in January 2011. For comparison,…
Author: Buckeye Firearms Association
Coffee and a gun anyone?
by Aaron Kirkingburg
Valentine’s Day 2012 has become a firearms focal point this year. A coalition made up of several secular anti-gun groups has banded together to plan and organize a boycott of Starbucks coffee shops in retaliation for the chain’s refusal to ban guns from its premises. These groups are pushing for corporations to ban guns in their retail locations because they can’t seem to get legislators to ban them anymore. In fact, self defense laws, concealed carry laws and gun rights have been gaining traction all over the country and the antis are losing ground fast. So, in an attempt to strong-arm the coffee chain into submission, these groups are attempting to hit them where it hurts: the bottom line!
Many chain stores across the country have succumbed to the gun banners’ agenda, and banned legal carry of firearms by law-abiding citizens. Starbucks remains steadfast in its decision. In fact they have repeatedly held their ground regarding the corporate policy on firearms even as others have folded under the pressure. The coffee chain neither hinders nor encourages individuals who carry. It simply follows the prevailing laws of the state in which any particular store happens to be located. That’s it!
So, in an effort to thwart the anti-gun agenda, a nationwide “reverse boycott” has sprung up from the grassroots Second Amendment community. This effort is aimed at totally negating the effects of the original boycott. Actually, it is believed that we could even increase sales on that particular day beyond what they would have been normally. We want to show the gun ban lobby that this tactic simply won’t work now or in the future. Let’s show them that the gun rights community will back any corporation willing to stand up for freedom and our right to self-defense. Let’s do our part to make ANY Starbucks the safest place in the country to have a cup of Joe this Valentine’s Day!
Election Day 2012 is right around the corner – what are YOU doing to ensure Obama is a one-termer?
by Joe DeBergalis
You may think November 6th — Election Day 2012 — is off in the distant future. Maybe you think there’s plenty of time before anyone needs to worry about getting that new voter registration card, or that it will be a long while before you need to start educating your friends and family about their pro-gun allies running for office. But Barack Obama and his anti-gun supporters have no such illusions. Since the day after his first victory, his allies have been working to put their man back into office, this time free to attack gun rights without the need to worry about reelection.
On the campaign stump, Obama has heeded the advice of many in his party, who were sick of repeated shellackings from gun owners, and who rightly perceive gun control as toxic to their political fortunes. But a quick glance at his record in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. Senate, as well as his actions as President, make clear to any gun rights supporter the danger of a second term.
Since Obama took office, his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has attempted to ban importation of popular defensive and hunting shotguns, has required multiple sales reporting on ARs and other popular semi-automatic rifles, and has run a deadly gun-smuggling operation with the goal of pushing new gun controls. This, along with a past that includes support for handgun bans, registration and licensing, and microstamping—as well as a promise made to Sarah Brady to pursue gun control “under the radar” — should be enough to send a chill up any gun owner’s spine.
That’s why the NRA Freedom Action Foundation is continuing the Trigger the Vote Campaign that helped make the 2010 midterm elections a boon for gun owners. Chaired by Chuck Norris and with a forthcoming ad starring NRA board member, actor and former Marine Corps drill instructor R. Lee “Gunny” Ermey, the nonpartisan campaign is aimed at getting as many pro-gun voters as possible registered in time for November 6th. Considering “The Gunny’s” experience motivating this nation’s finest, along with gun owners’ reputation as a powerful voting bloc for swinging elections, nothing short of a major victory for gun rights should be expected.
Police and bar owners: No issues since reforms pertaining to concealed carry took effect
by Chad D. Baus
The Mount Vernon News recently provided readers an updated look at what police and bar owners have experienced in the months since Ohio’s concealed carry law was modified to allow license-holders to carry in places where alcohol is being served, so long as they are not drinking, and to remove onerous restrictions mandating how license-holders were allowed to carry in a motor vehicle.
Addressing the modifications to the CCW law with regard to a motor vehicle, The Mount Vernon News reported that law enforcement officials aren’t having any problems:
“We haven’t seen a lot of CCW instances,” said officer Nick Holdren of the Fredericktown Police Department, adding that there have been [no] problems reported.
Compare that reality to the fiction that was offered by John Gilchrist, legislative counsel for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, in testimony opposing the legislation last year. From the Gongwer News Service:
Mr. Gilchrist said they would “allow gun owners to have their firearms openly displayed, laying on the passenger seat or on the dashboard. Law enforcement officers in Ohio make millions of traffic stops a year. Allowing drivers to have ready access to their guns pose a greater safety sisk[sic] for these officers.
In the same fashion, area bar owners aren’t reporting any problems since passage of the law, despite Gilcrest’s warning to legislators last year that “allowing guns in barrooms, stadiums, taverns, restaurants and other businesses that sell alcohol will result in more gun violence.”
Major gun heist at Ohio gun store proves background checks can’t stop criminals from getting guns
by Chad D. Baus
WCMH, Columbus’ NBC affiliate, is reporting that police are investigating a break-in in which approximately 80 firearms were stolen from a Central Ohio shooting range as well as boxes of ammunition.
Thieves knocked a hole through a cinder block wall to gain access to The Powder Room, which is located in Powell.
According to the report, this wasn’t the first time thieves have targeted The Powder Room. In the past, a gun stolen from the shop was later used in a crime where violence against a police officer was involved.
Linda Walker is the Ohio chair of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
“To know now there’s 80 guns out there being possessed by yet another criminal is very unfortunate. I mean, we never want to see that,” Walker said.
NBC4 spoke with Walker about the claim some make that stolen guns can sometimes lead to more violence against police officers.
“I mean we don’t know what the outcome of where these guns are going to end up at. To speculate that they’re going to be used against police officers? I don’t see a place for that right now,” Walker said.
One thing that IS clear from this incident is that background checks are impotent at preventing criminals from obtaining firearms. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, MSBNC’s Jeff Rosen, the Brady Campaign, Senator Chuck Schumer and all the rest of the gun ban lobby can whine all they want about the supposed “gun show loophole” and “online gun sales loophole” (which are both, in truth, simply legal transactions between private citizens), but at the end of the day, making all of that illegal will only prevent law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights, while not doing a thing to stop a motivated criminal.
Ohio Supreme Court declines to hear Castle Doctrine appeal; Man who acted in self-defense is free
by Chad D. Baus The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Ohio Supreme Court (OSC) has declined to hear the case of a 55-year-old Cleveland homeowner convicted in Cuyahoga County Common…
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Our friends at Black Wing Shooting Center are raffling off a new 2012 Harley-Davidson FXS Blackwing motorcycle. Tickets are only $25 each and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Buckeye Firearms…
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Headline: Handgun ownership rising among women
by Chad D. Baus
From the article:
More than one in five who have applied to carry concealed handguns in Butler, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Warren counties are women, and owners of local gun stores and shooting ranges say women are increasingly participating in training and target practice.
Although violent crime continues to decline in the region, experts said more women are choosing to pack heat because it is becoming more culturally acceptable, and they are also worried about their safety.
“We are seeing more women and that’s a good thing because they are the ones who need it,” said John Thyne, principal owner of Peabody Sports in Kettering.
After citing national statistics which show an upward trend in firearms ownership overall, and according to Gallop more sharply among women (23 percent of women say they own a gun, up from 13 percent in 2005), the article continues:
Under Ohio law, concealed-carry permits are not public records, but the Dayton Daily News was able to obtain data about the number of permits issued by gender. However, not all sheriff’s offices could produce the same type of information.
In 2011, women accounted for 459 of the 2,029 new and renewal concealed-carry permits issued in Montgomery County, according to the county sheriff’s office.
The share of permits held by women increased to 22.6 percent last year from 18.4 percent in 2010. Warren County issued 349 active concealed- carry licenses to women in 2011, up from 328 in 2009, according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.
About one in five concealed-carry permits ever issued in Greene and Miami counties were for women, according to permit data.In 2011, about one in four concealed-carry permit applications in Butler County were from women, according to Daily News tabulations. Of the 1,623 conceal and carry permit applications in 2011, 436 were for females.
The article notes that while violent crime is down across the country, about 49 percent of the victims of violent crime are women, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey.
Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” Super Bowl Super Stunt
Vitriolic anti-gun mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-NYC) and his gun control group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), are paying for their 30 seconds of fame. According to a New York Times piece before the game, Bloomberg [was scheduled to] join his gun-grabbing cohort, Mayor Tom Menino of Boston (D), in a Super Bowl-themed ad calling for more gun control laws.
Despite his billions in personal wealth, Bloomberg’s MAIG [took] the frugal route in airing this ad, as the Times piece notes, “The ad will be shown regionally [specifically only in Washington, D.C.], rather than nationally, meaning that, according to Mr. Bloomberg’s press office, the spot will cost only ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars,’ rather than the average of $3.5 million that NBC is charging for a 30-second national advertising buy.”
In a bit of irony, apparently among the football-themed props in the ad will be bowls of popcorn and chips, normal Super Bowl fare for millions of football fans, but the type of food that Bloomberg and his health police condemn through the city’s bans and regulations on certain types of foods they feel city residents shouldn’t be allowed to consume.
While MAIG’s claim to support laws that will lead to a reduction in crime rings hollow, perhaps a better expenditure of their time would be to focus their “crime-fighting” efforts on their own members.