Judges – least known candidates, critically important votes

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Jim Irvine

Election Day is less than two weeks away, and many people are already voting early or absentee. Most of the talk, commercials, and media attention are focused on the Presidential race. Voters receive very little information related to the judicial races, so it’s hard to gather enough information to form an opinion. These races are critical, and have the greatest ability to influence our lives for years to come. Because they are “non-partisan” there is no party affiliation listed with their names on the ballot. You must walk into the voting booth knowing the candidates’ names you are voting for.

In the statewide races for Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, we have endorsed three Judges: Current Supreme Court Justices Robert Cupp and Terrance O’Donnell, and pro-gun Common Pleas Judge Sharon Kennedy. Supreme Court Justices Cupp and O’Donnell have ruled in our favor through their opinions in prior cases. They interpret our laws and constitution to mean what they say. We must vote keep them on the bench. There are indications that Cupp is behind in the polls. He needs your help.

Common Pleas Judge Sharon Kennedy is trying to replace an anti-gun Justice who ruled against our interests and supported the Columbus “Assault Weapon Ban.” Kennedy is a shooter who understands our issues. All three Ohio Supreme Court races are critical for those who value freedom and the rule of law.

Op-Ed: Fighting Crime in Cook County by Taxing Bullets?

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Steve Chapman

For urban politicians, gun control is like the bar in “Cheers” — a place of refuge they can seek out whenever things aren’t going well. Things aren’t going well on the crime front in Chicago, with homicides up 25 percent this year. So what else can our elected leaders do but promise action against guns?

Action against the possession and use of guns by violent felons would be a good idea, but the proposal offered by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is something else: a penalty on nonviolent citizens who bear no blame for the carnage.

Criminals and the Guns They Carry

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Greg Ellifritz

“If you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.” Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu said this over 2000 years ago in his book The Art of War. It’s hardly new advice. Yet it is just as useful now as it was so many centuries ago.

Armed citizens spend countless hours trying to find the perfect weapon system, combining the best size, accuracy, reliability, and stopping power into one easy-to-carry package. They try friends’ guns. They read gun magazines. They study every gun website on the Internet. They are truly taking Sun Tzu’s advice above as they attempt to “know themselves.”

But how much time does the average CCW permit holder spend on the other portion of that quote? How many of you spend an equal amount of time studying criminal behavior in order to “know your enemy?” Most of my students don’t study criminal behavior nearly as much as they should.

There are several reasons for this phenomenon. The primary reason is that most honest citizens don’t come into contact with hardened criminals on a daily basis. They don’t personally know any criminals and have no direct experience dealing with them. Without having regular contact with criminals, honest citizens are forced to rely on research done by others. Most criminological research isn’t all that interesting or relevant for the law-abiding citizen. The available academic research simply doesn’t answer many of the questions the average person cares about.

Armed citizens want to understand commonly used criminal ruses and attacks. They want to know how likely they are to be victimized. They want to know potential characteristics of their attackers and their attackers’ weapons. They want to know when and where crimes occur. Unfortunately, most criminological researchers aren’t interested in the same topics. It’s tough finding useful research.

The lack of available research leads to real preparation problems for the armed citizen. How does a person choose what type of weapon to carry when he doesn’t have a good idea of the threat he faces? Wouldn’t knowing the types of weapons criminals carry be important information to have before deciding what type of weapon you should carry? Remember Sun Tzu’s quote above; we need to know both ourselves AND our enemies.

There hasn’t been a whole lot of published research on the subject of criminal weapons. There are numerous studies from the FBI and US DOJ about weapons used in crimes, but they don’t go into great detail. Most only identify if the weapon used by the criminal was a firearms, edged weapon, or impact weapon. If the reports supply additional information about firearms, they seldom track individual weapon types, calibers, and ammunition. Most papers only classify the weapons used in crimes as “handguns,” “rifles,” and “shotguns.” That’s not enough information for the armed citizen. He or she needs to know more details about the threats they face.

Columbus: 19 year-old shoots intruder in sister’s bedroom

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that a man who police say was breaking into an East Side home died today after he was shot by a resident and fell from the second-floor bedroom window.

From the article:

Police were called to 3117 Easthaven Dr. S. at 2:17 p.m. on a report of gunshots fired.

Donald Griffin III, who lives at the house with his mother and sister, was alone in the home and watching television when he heard a noise upstairs, said Sgt. Steven Little of the Police Division’s homicide squad.

Griffin, 19, knew from when he had locked himself out that a person could scale the house by climbing atop a storage shed, Little said. And he knew that a second-floor window had been left open through yesterday’s warm afternoon.

When he heard the noise, Griffin grabbed a handgun. Little said he confronted the man in his sister’s bedroom and fired once.

The intruder fell from the window to the concrete patio below. Columbus Fire paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.

It was unclear tonight whether he died from the gunshot or the fall.

Griffin, who cooperated and told police he acted in self-defense, was not charged. Little said it appeared that Griffin might have fired the handgun more than once.

Under Ohio’s Castle Doctrine law, if someone unlawfully enters or attempts to enter an occupied home or temporary habitation, or occupied car, citizens have an initial presumption that they may act in self defense, and will not be second-guessed by the State.

And in Oklahoma…”Twelve-year-old Bryan Co. girl shoots home intruder“

And in La-La Land…”The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children are safer in homes without guns“

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