Raging (Pointlessly?) Against The Machine

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Jim Shepherd

[On Tuesday], Olympic Arms became the latest company to tell the state of New York they were fired as a customer. The dismissal began with a clear enumeration of the firing offense: exceeding the authority granted to the government of New York by its citizens and violation of the Constitution of the United States.

Those offenses led Olympic Arms president Brian Schuetz to announce Olympic would no longer do business with “any Law Enforcement Departments, Law Enforcement Officers, First Responders within the State of New York, or any New York State government entity or employee of such an entity.”

As Scheutz explained, “If the leaders of the State of New York are willing to limit the right of the free and law abiding citizens of New York to arm themselves as they see fit under the Rights enumerate to all citizens of the United State through the Second Amendment, we feel as though the legislators and government entities within the State of New York should have to abide by the same restrictions.”

Unfortunately, that decision by Olympic Arms is a small consolation to several hundred gun rights supporters who surprised Colorado politicians by showing up – in force – for a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on a universal background check and a magazine restriction.

Late [Tuesday] night they were still holding their ground, trying to dissuade the committee from passing the proposals through their committee and on to the Appropriations Committee. From there, the proposals would proceed to the full Colorado House and – most likely – from there to the full Colorado Senate.

Our colleague Michael Bane was there, but dispirited at what he’d seen and heard over the course of a very long day. “What can I tell you,” Bane said, “despite hundreds of gun rights advocates who flocked to Denver – on short notice – to testify, this committee voted along party lines (7-4) to approve universal background checks.”

Essentially, Bane explained, “Democratic members of the Committee disregarded both expert and civilian testimony and accepted as articles of faith a set of statistics provided by Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG).”

ODNR proposes eliminating bonus deer gun weekend in favor of new early deer muzzleloader weekend, extended hunting hours & more

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

COLUMBUS, OH – An October antlerless-only white-tailed deer muzzleloader hunting season, extended hunting hours and new bag limits were proposed to the Ohio Wildlife Council on Wednesday, Feb. 6, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

The proposed antlerless-only muzzleloader hunting season would be Oct. 12-13 and scheduled for the second weekend of October in subsequent years. The proposal includes making the October muzzleloader season for antlerless deer only, regardless of the method of take, and eliminating both the bonus gun weekend in December and the early muzzleloader season at three public hunting areas (Salt Fork Wildlife Area, Shawnee State Forest and Wildcat Hollow).

Hunting hours are proposed to be extended 30 minutes past sunset for all deer firearms seasons, including the weeklong deer-gun season, youth season and muzzleloader seasons. This will make the hours the same as archery season.

County bag limits are proposed to replace deer zones. Proposed bag limits will be two, three or four deer, determined by county. The proposed statewide bag limit is nine deer with additional controlled hunt opportunities, which do not count against the statewide bag limit. The nine deer bag limit is reduced from last season’s 18 deer limit.

It is also proposed that antlerless permits will only be valid until the Sunday before the deer-gun season. Urban deer zones would be eliminated. Hunters may harvest only one buck in Ohio, regardless of the method of take or location.

Proposed deer bag limits, from the following counties combined:

Hunters Harvest Nearly 219,000 White-Tailed Deer in Ohio in 2012-2013

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

COLUMBUS, OH – Deer-archery season ended Feb. 3, bringing the white-tailed deer season to a close. Hunters harvested 218,910 white-tailed deer during Ohio’s 2012-2013 hunting seasons for all implements, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). Hunters checked 219,748 deer in 2011-2012, a difference of less than 1,000 deer this season.

“Ohio has become one of the nation’s top destinations for hunting white-tailed deer,” said ODNR Director James Zehringer. “We would like to thank the nearly 500,000 outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen that participated during this hunting season. It is their efforts in the field that help us provide some of the best outdoor recreational opportunities in the country.”

The Ohio counties that reported the most checked deer for all implements during the 2012-2013 season: Coshocton (7,413), Licking (6,928), Tuscarawas (6,813), Muskingum (6,457), Guernsey (6,151), Harrison (5,365), Knox (5,288), Ashtabula (4,974), Carroll (4,825) and Belmont (4,731). The top seven counties remained unchanged from last season.

Hunters continue to support alternate methods to report deer kills. Since the deer season began on Sept. 29, 2012, 44 percent of hunters phoned in their report, 40 percent reported online and 16 percent traveled to a license agent’s location.

Shelby Co. Sheriff’s office implements concealed carry/ firearms training course for school administrators and select teachers

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Chad D. Baus

Shelby Co. Sheriff John Lenhart’s office has announced that it is implementing a concealed carry/ firearms training course for school administrators and select teachers.

Following is the press release, dated Feb. 5, 2013:

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has been meeting with School Superintendents and local Boards of Education and will begin implementing a Concealed Carry/ Firearms Training for School Administrators and select teachers. These personnel will be selected and approved by the local school boards prior to training being offered by the Sheriff’s Office.

A 16 hour training course has been planned and outlined by the Sheriff’s Office. This training will consist of 12 hours of class room instruction to be held at the Sheriff’s Office and 4 hours of firearms training on the Sheriff’s Office firing range.

Training will include not only concealed carry weapons training but will include weapons safety and storage, tactics, for handling the weapon(s), dealing with suspects, and basic gunshot first aid.

The three instructors for this course are fully trained Sheriff’s Deputies and hold Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) certification [and] as firearms instructors have a combined 51 years experience between them.

This training is being provided by the Sheriff’s Office from the Concealed Carry Fund at no cost to the local school districts.

Sheriff John R. Lenhart is honored and please to be able to to provide this training as part of our mission with the school districts to protect our children.

School administrators can contact Sheriff Lenhart directly by calling 937-498-7833 to schedule training.

Schools in Shelby County chosing to take part in the program will join Montpelier, OH schools in Williams County and Orville City Schools in Wayne County as schools whose decision to arm school employees is public knowledge. Other schools across the state have made the decision as part of their school safety plan, which understandably is not accessible as a public record.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.

Op-Ed: Why I Just Joined the NRA

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Wayne Root

I’m not your typical NRA member. I’m Jewish, Ivy League educated (Columbia University, Class of ’83, President Obama’s classmate), and have been a member of the mainstream media (I started my career as an anchorman and host for CNBC, then called Financial News Network). Also unusual, I joined the NRA in the days after the Sandy Hook, Connecticut tragedy.

Here are the reasons why.

First, I believe it’s clear that our politicians have come to all the wrong conclusions. Why would we rush to ban guns, when almost all of our mass murders and most of our violent crimes occur in places with the strictest gun control? Why rush to create more “Gun Free Zones” when the Sandy Hook tragedy occurred in a “Gun Free Zone?” This response makes absolutely no sense.

The worst violent crime and murder rates in America occur in places with the strictest gun control already in place – Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Washington D.C. Strict gun control clearly does not work. It only disarms the honest, law-abiding citizens, who are left helpless and defenseless. Criminals never have a problem acquiring guns. Therefore gun laws are not only useless, they are dangerous.

But don’t just look at big cities in America. Let’s look across the Atlantic Ocean for the best example. Our friend and ally England has a complete ban on guns. No UK citizen can carry a gun. Period. Not a one. Result? The UK violent crime rate is 3 1/3 times higher than America. The FBI reports 386 violent crimes per 100,000 in the USA. The UK Home Office reports 1,361 violent crimes per 100,000 in England. Gun control may be a failure, but the UK experience proves that outright gun bans are an unmitigated disaster.

But this is nothing new. Leftist, big government, Nanny State politicians always come to the wrong conclusion about most issues.

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