First Buckeye Firearms Foundation-funded training class for Ohio teachers is a success; It won’t be the last

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Jim Irvine

The training class that Buckeye Firearms Foundation proposed at a town hall meeting following the mass murder of teachers and school children in Newtown, Connecticut, has been completed. The class of 24 teachers, administrators, and school employees attended a three day class at Tactical Defense Institute (TDI) in Adams County, Ohio on March 25-27. The weather was cold and at times difficult, but the teachers-turned-students all showed up ready and eager to learn.

Instructors work with students on shooting while moving   

Instructors work with students on shooting while moving

The class started with a lecture from John Benner. He explained what we have learned from studying past events, complete with statistics, and addressed the mental preparation needed to end an event. Then students were instructed in proper stance, grip, and trigger management and practiced dry firing with roped guns. The class moved to a range where they continued to work on shooting fundamentals as they practiced live fire drills.

Afternoon training consisted of more work on the fundamentals and added drawing from a holster and from concealment. By the end of the day the newer shooters were all shooting well, and the long-time shooters had shrunk their groupings or increased the speed at which they could reliably make follow-up shots. Several experienced shooters commented that they had learned more about shooting on that first day than the rest of their life combined. Knowing TDI's instructors, that is likely an accurate assessment.

Day Two started with more shooting. Students worked on reloading magazines and refinement of the skills they learned on Day One. They were introduced to shooting while moving and moving past and around people while keeping their gun pointed in a safe direction.

Biden: Gun-Ban Legislation “Just the Beginning” — Pelosi: “Not the End of the Day for this Issue”

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[Last] week, Vice-President Joe Biden, and House Minority Leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), showed us–once again–how thorough their contempt is for our Constitutionally guaranteed Second Amendment rights.

According to a Washington Times article, on a Wednesday conference call organized by “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” Biden referred to current anti-gun legislation and told his anti-gun supporters, “Let me say this as clearly as I can: this is just the beginning.”

As the article notes, recent surveys show increasing opposition to stricter gun control measures. But this fact matters not to Biden; nor to Pelosi, who also voiced a determination to continue pushing for gun bans, no matter what the American public says.

“I’ve been to a number of states since this Congress has gone in and many parts of different states and the public is so far ahead of the Congress on this subject. I believe whatever passes in the Congress now will not be the end of the day for this issue.”

Sen. Rob Portman issues strong statement condemning gun control proposals in D.C. and the U.N.

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association
“I support the good work being done here in Ohio to provide appropriate training to teachers and administrators who have permission from their local school boards to carry.”
– United States Senator Rob Portman

by Chad D. Baus

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Republican Rob Portman was unabashed in his support for the Second Amendment. In September 2010 his campaign released a flyer which pointed out his strong history of support for Second Amendment-related issues, and grading resume from than National Rifle Association over his entire 12 years in Congress.

The Portman campaign flyer promises that “As Ohio’s next Senator Rob will continue to protect our Constitutional freedoms and will be a strong advocate for preserving these rights and traditions for future generations.”

A few weeks later, in an interview given prior to his address to the U.S. Sportsmen Alliance (USSA) Ohio Rally, Portman informed Outdoor Writers of Ohio members that pro-Second Amendment voters could feel comfortable supporting him, and stressed that “it is critical to have a Senator who will stand up for the Second Amendment.”

In the wake of the re-election of President Obama, and the political fallout from a spree killer’s attack on the “no-guns” victim zone in Connecticut, it is indeed critical to have a Senator who will stand up for the Second Amendment.

A newly-released statement by Sen. Portman proves that is exactly what we have.

In the days following the attack at Sandy Hook, the media and anti-gun politicians thought they had their chance to accomplish political goals they had long-been denied: the renewal and expansion of a Federal ban on modern semi-automatic rifles, and a “universal background check” gun registration scheme.

When the media questioned Portman about whether or not he would support attempts to renew the rifle ban, headlines across the nation screamed that he believed gun limits should be on the table. Behind the scenes, and with the knowledge that you can’t always trust what you read in the media, representatives from Buckeye Firearms Association contacted Portman’s office to inquire as to his actual position.

The response came in no uncertain terms: his representatives assured us Sen. Portman’s comments had been taken out of context, and that he would not waver on his support for the Second Amendment. His office also released a media statement that said “[Portman] has emphasized that he is a supporter of Second Amendment rights and has yet to see data that points to new gun control laws as an effective way to making our communities safer.”

So when news began circulating that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had decided to spend $12 million on television ads designed to influence Senators who are supposedly on the fence regarding their support for a so-called “universal background check” gun registration scheme, we naturally decided it was time to call the Senator again to verify whether or not media reports that he was undecided about the legislation were true. Once again the Senator has responded, and this time even more forcefully.

In fact, it could be said that Sen. Portman has just dropped the equivalent of a “MOAB” on Mayor Bloomberg’s multi-million dollar efforts to sway his support for Americans’ Second Amendment rights.

U.N. Passes gun Control Treaty: International and National Gun Battles Looming

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by Jim Shepherd

With yesterday’s passage of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, the Obama administration added more fuel to the fire of critics who refer to the “imperial presidency” rather than the “current administration.” Reversing previous national policy to endorse a gun control treaty that would essentially allow the United Nations to have the final say on any firearms exports, the administration put its full weight behind the measure.

It’s brought more than a few blasts from unhappy members of the firearms industry in the past few days, but it’s also gotten the attention of the United States Congress. And Congress says that while the president might well sign the treaty, it will be dead on arrival at the Senate. If the Senate doesn’t approve the treaty, Mr. Obama’s signature will, essentially, be meaningless from a legal standpoint.

That hasn’t kept anti-gun groups from crowing about the “setback for the pro-gun bloc, especially the NRA”. And it only points out the growing division over gun rights between the administration and the Congress and the administration and the people.

NSSF objects to U.S. government abandoning position that U.N. treaty must be based on international “consensus”

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation today strongly objected to the last-minute reversal of the U.S. government position regarding the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. In the closing hours of negotiations on Thursday, March 28, the government abandoned its previous insistence that the treaty be approved only through achieving “consensus” of all the member states. Requiring consensus had been the United States position going back to earlier administrations.

At the end of the session, a U.S. government spokesperson told reporters “It’s important to the United States and the defense of our interests to insist on consensus. But every state in this process has always been conscious of the fact that if consensus is not reached in this process, that there are other ways to adopt this treaty, including via a vote of the General Assembly.” The spokesperson went on to say that the United States would vote “yes” on the treaty in the General Assembly, regardless of the positions of other member states. By abandoning the requirement for consensus the United States is assuring passage of the treaty by the United Nations.

“This abrupt about-face on the long-standing United States requirement for ‘consensus’ illustrates that the Obama Administration wants a sweeping U.N. arms control treaty,” said Lawrence Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “We are troubled by the timing of the Obama Administration’s decision to abandon consensus on the eve of the Senate debate on pending gun control measures. The United Nations treaty would have a broad impact on the U.S. firearms industry and its base of consumers in the U.S.”

Murder in Ohio church during Easter services “the will of Allah”

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by Chad D. Baus

Yet another murder occurred over the weekend in a so-called “gun free” zone in Ohio, and church officials are thankful the death toll wasn’t higher.

From The Star Beacon:

Children screamed in terror and hid under the pews at Hiawatha Church of God in Christ on Sunday, witnesses said, as an Ashtabula man was shot and killed by his son just after the Easter service.

Richard Riddle, 52, was leaving the church on Hiawatha Street with his wife at about 1 p.m. when his son, 25-year-old Reshad Riddle, approached him and fired a single round from a handgun, instantly killing Richard, church associate pastor Sean Adams said.

About 150 parishioners were leaving the church in recessional. They ducked down at the sound of the gunshot, pushing their children and grandchildren under the pews as Reshad Riddle entered the church, still carrying the gun and yelling that the shooting was “the will of Allah. This is the will of God,” Adams said.

“It was terrifying,” Adams said. “The children were screaming, and people were dialing 911. We were afraid to breathe.”

…Ashtabula police Chief Robert Stell said dispatchers received multiple calls from inside the church and immediately called law enforcement mutual aid from every available agency to the scene.

“The initial call we received was more along the lines of a mass shooting,” he said. “We knew that shots were fired in the church, and we thought there were multiple people down. We called other agencies to assist because it was described as a mass shooting and we weren’t sure if there were multiple shooters or multiple people wounded.”

As was reported by the Associated Press, witnesses feared the worst:

“Tragic as it is, it could have been so much worse,” Rev. Steve Sargent, associate pastor of the Hiawatha Church of God in Christ in Ashtabula, said Monday as he pointed out where the gunman moved through the sanctuary.

Michael Wofford, 59, a worshipper who attended Sunday’s service with his wife and two grandchildren, said he feared a shooting rampage after the gunman finished his spiel from the pulpit area.

“Is he going to just walk out of the church or is he going to start shooting people at random,” Wofford asked in the church vestibule. “Sooner or later he’s going to run out of words. It could have been much worse.”

In Ohio, if a church member with a concealed handgun license brings their firearm to church as a means of protection against such an attack, the law calls for him to be arrested and charged with a felony of the fourth degree, and a conviction would earn him up to $5000 in fines and 18 months in prison.

How did it get this bad in the Buckeye State, where, once upon a time, state law encouraged citizens to bear arms at church services?[1] Will it take a church massacre (or massacres) in Ohio before the Republicans controlling the General Assembly do anything about it?

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