Unsung heroes behind passage of Ohio’s Restaurant & Car Carry Rules Fix and Restoration of Rights bills deserve our thanks

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Jim Irvine

Governor John Kasich recently signed two important firearms bills into law. SB17 affects those with who carry concealed in Ohio. HB54 affects those who have had firearm rights restored. In addition to the Governor and bill sponsors, there are some other people who worked hard for your rights and deserve recognition.

Senator Jason Wilson (D-Columbiana) was a primary sponsor of the restoration bill last session and again this session. From the beginning, he understood the issue, and worked with interested parties to produce good legislation. He worked Democrats and Republicans to help them understand the issue’s importance and impact. The people of Ohio could not ask for anything more from a bill sponsor.

Representative Danny Bubp (R-West Union) was a primary sponsor of restaurant carry and improvements of car carry this session, and was the leader of an effort to force a vote on this and restoration issues last session through a discharge petition. He proved the votes were there to pass the bills, but we fell one day short on session as then-Speaker Budish (D) refused to allow the bills a vote. Had Bubp been successful, the fixes attained this session would have become effective months ago, instead of 3 months from now.

Legislative aides are a critical component of any office. Wilson and Bubp have excellent aides in Jason Phillips and Erica Wilson. They worked efficiently together to move legislation forward.

U.S. Senate Stands with NRA in Strongly Opposing U.N Gun Control Efforts

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

As has been reported recently at BuckeyeFirearms.org, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) has been circulating a letter to be sent to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly stating opposition to any inclusion of civilian arms in the proposed UN’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

On Friday, July 22, Moran announced that he had acquired 45 signatures – considerably more than the 34 Senators needed to prevent a 2/3 majority vote to ratify such a treaty. And the NRA says that, in total, 51 Senators have committed to opposing any ATT that includes civilian firearms ownership.

From the NRA press release:

Another business owner with concealed handgun license defends self from armed robbers

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

WKYC (NBC Cleveland) is reporting that when two men tried to rob the owner of Advanced Iron & Metal on Quincy Avenue just before 11 a.m. Friday, they got more than they bargained for.

From the news report:

A Channel 3 News crew was there and the owner told them that two men tried to rob him. He said one man had a gun and fired several shots at him, grazing him in the stomach.

Then the owner pulled out his own gun and fired at the suspects, striking one suspect in the leg twice.

That suspect ran from the scrapyard but was caught by police at East 69th Street and Quincy Avenue as they were enroute to the scrapyard.

Police and EMS arrived on the scene and police took the second suspect into custody.

The owner, who told Channel 3 that he had a concealed carry permit, was grazed by the shot the suspect fired but he was treated at the scene.

Police say the suspect who was shot twice by the owner was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center.

Both suspects are under arrest, police said.

A complete list of known incidents involving Ohio CHL-holders defending themselves is available here.

Legislation will allow some auditors to carry concealed weapons; another proposal addresses EMTs

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Chad D. Baus

Lost in all of the sky-is-falling media coverage of the debate over restaurant carry legislation last month was news of passage of legislation that will allow some employees of the state auditor’s office to carry concealed weapons.

From June 11 in the The Columbus Dispatch:

Carrie Bartunek, spokeswoman for Auditor Dave Yost, said four investigators in the auditor’s office – all of whom are certified law-enforcement officers – will carry concealed weapons once the law takes effect.

The Ohio House approved changes Wednesday to House Bill 5, which focuses on adjusting fees in various courts across the state. The Ohio Senate added a provision requested by Yost to permit his investigators to carry weapons. This week’s vote sent the bill to Kasich, who is expected to sign it.

The measure includes no limit on the number of investigators who can be armed; it allows as many as the auditor deems necessary.

Bartunek said the investigators track fraud and deal with potential criminal activities. They sometimes find themselves in dangerous situations, although she could point to no specific incident prompting the request.

“This is a safety precaution,” she said. “They have to uphold the laws of the state of Ohio. … They often find themselves in situations where people are not happy they are there.”

During the House discussion on the bill, Rep. W. Carlton Weddington, D-Columbus, asked for examples of when an auditor’s investigator might need to be armed.

Rep. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, an attorney and sponsor of the bill, said people being investigated might become “angry and upset.” He said investigators should be armed in volatile situations.

The bill was signed into law by Gov. John Kasich on June 23, and becomes effective September 23, 2011.

Legislation has also been proposed which would allow some Ohio emergency medical technicians could get the right to carry guns.

ATF Chief Admits Mistakes in ‘Fast and Furious, ‘ Accuses Holder Aides of Stonewalli​ng Congress

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Fox News is reporting that the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives has admitted that his agency, in at least one instance, allowed sales of high-powered weapons without intercepting them — and he accuses his superiors at the Justice Department of stonewalling Congress to protect political appointees in the scandal over those decisions.

From the article:

Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson made the disclosuresabout the so-called Operation Fast and Furious in an interview with congressional investigators looking into the controversial anti-gunrunning initiative.

The operation was designed to track small-time gun buyers up to major weapons traffickers along the U.S.border with Mexico. Critics estimate that 1,800 guns targeted in the operation are unaccounted for, and about two-thirds of those probably are in Mexico.

Melson’s acknowledgement is the first by any senior ATF leader that confirms some of the criticism that Republicans on Capitol Hill have been leveling at Fast and Furious. The objections have resulted in congressional hearings and an inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general.

Rep. Darrell Issa of Californiaand Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the two Republicans leading the charge in Congress against Fast and Furious, released a statement Monday noting Melson’s testimony, along with a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder outlining their complaints.

The two lawmakers accuse Holder’s department of “unsatisfactory responses and lack of cooperation” with the congressional probe, and Melson seemed to agree.

“It was very frustrating to all of us, and it appears thoroughly to us that the Department (of Justice) is really trying to figure out a way to push the information away from their political appointees at the department,” Melson said in one quote highlighted by Issa and Grassley.

Melson is also quoted as saying, “there were some mistake smade” in Fast and Furious by the ATF’s Phoenix Field Division, but Melson said aides to Holder didn’t want to admit those mistakes to Congress.

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre Stands Up for American Gun Owners at United Nations

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre drew a line in sand on behalf of American gun owners at the United Nations last week. LaPierre spoke to the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Preparatory Committee, the group drafting an international treaty that will supposedly control all non-nuclear arms, worldwide, including civilian firearms. He told the audience of delegates from approximately 150 UN member states that the NRA would vehemently oppose any UN treaty that in any way restricts American gun owners’ rights. (To watch the speech, please see below.)

LaPierre made the position of NRA and American gun owners clear. “The NRA will fight with all of its strength to oppose any ATT that includes civilian firearms within its scope,” he stated emphatically.

LaPierre reminded the audience that under the American system a treaty must be approved by two-thirds of the United States Senate to be ratified. He also told them that there was already significant resistance in the Senate, including a letter to President Obama, now being circulated, that opposes the proposed treaty. LaPierre pointed out that it was unprecedented to have a treaty rejected before it was even presented.

Executive Vice President LaPierre presented the UN group with a long list of ways the treaty would interfere with American gun owners’ rights. These include bans on certain types of arms, registration requirements, a UN demand for more domestic firearms laws, barriers to international trade in firearms and ammunition, special permits for hunters travelling to different countries and a new UN gun control bureaucracy. He said these were just a few of the objections that the NRA had to the proposed treaty. LaPierre went on to say the only way these objections could be addressed was to completely exclude civilian firearms from the treaty.

Canton police officer under investigation after concealed carry arrest [UPDATED]

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Chad D. Baus

The Canton Repository is reporting that Canton police are investigating an officer for his conduct during a traffic stop in June involving a concealed handgun license holder. The officer’s actions were captured on dash cam video, and subsequently posted on YouTube.

From the article:

“I think it’s important for citizens to understand that the behavior demonstrated on the video is wholly unacceptable, and it violates many of our rules, our regulations and standards we demand of our officers,” Chief Dean McKimm said Thursday.

The officer on the video, Daniel Harless, was placed on administrative leave in June and has been on sick leave since Monday, McKimm said.

The results of the investigation will be presented at a disciplinary hearing, the chief said.

“The city administration, in conjunction with the police department, recognizes the seriousness of this matter,” McKimm said.

Bill Adams, president of the Canton Police Patrolmen’s Association, has watched the video.

Adams said that officers deal with emotional and dangerous situations on the job. But when officers respond to calls involving guns “it’s an emotional situation. I’m not condoning … anything that might have happened in the video.”

“Obviously we have a lot of hard-working police officers on this department who do a lot of good work,” he said. “Obviously, whatever transpired on that video is an isolated incident. It happened, and it’s being handled properly right now, and the chief is doing what he feels is necessary.”

Adams is also quoted as saying that police officers, who have been with the department for several years, also are (still) trying to make the transition to the (seven year-old) concealed weapon law.

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