Plain Dealer reporter takes Ohio concealed carry class; turns from fear to confidence

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by Chad D. Baus

Yet another journalist for an Ohio news organization has taken a concealed handgun course and come away impressed.

Cleveland Plain Dealer writer Andrea Simakis attended a class in Euclid, Ohio, and wrote about her experience in an article entitled “From gun-shy to gun-savvy: Weapons-handling class turns fear into confidence.”

When I walked into Mitch Houser’s Right to Carry course, I wasn’t packing heat, but I was weighed down by a bellyful of well-worn biases about the kind of person who wants to strut around armed.

Do you really need a piece to run to Giant Eagle for milk? Nobody I knew had an arsenal in the basement or would admit to owning even one gun.

For $140 — plus the cost of a rental piece and 100 rounds of factory-loaded ammunition — Houser, an off-duty sergeant with the Euclid Police Department, was going to help me and eight others qualify for a license to carry a concealed handgun.

Op-ed: Young Man Control – The next step in the liberal campaign against violence

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by P. J. O’Rourke

Liberals could not prove their argument that the Tucson shootings were caused by the violent words of conservatives. Liberals then changed their argument: The Tucson shootings were caused by the violent possessions of conservatives. That is, the shootings were caused by private ownership of firearms.

Proven, tautologically speaking. Another thing liberals say that doesn’t need saying is that America has too much criminal gun use. As opposed to what? Just the right amount? Also, the mentally disturbed should be kept away from deadly weapons. This thesis has been, if anything, over-demonstrated by the left itself, from the French Revolution’s reign of terror to Hugo Chávez.

People must be held accountable for their actions, whether with guns, knives, fists, or votes for enormous expansion of government power. As to guns, at least, this accountability is a matter of law. The law is—in a country that probably has more guns than liberals—difficult to enforce. But most laws are. Otherwise we wouldn’t have to make them laws. So why are liberals obsessed with guns in particular? And why do liberals feel compelled to vociferously argue empty truisms about guns?

Because liberals are opposed to violence, which is very high-minded of them. Guns are a source of violence in America. Guns are not, however, the principal source. Young men are the principal source of violence in America. This is why it’s only a matter of time before liberals—being opposed to violence—propose young man control. This will entail:

The Pen is Mightier Than The Gun

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by Ken Hanson

BFA’s Gerard Valentino recently published an excellent article on the 100th birthday of the 1911. Enjoying this article, while at the same time wishing BFA’s Linda Walker better luck running for the NRA Board of Directors than I had, reminded me of the 2008 NRA convention in Louisville. This was a special time for me, as the NRA was giving me recognition for my legal work at this meeting. Additionally, SB184 was on the cusp of passage by the Ohio House. What a pleasant long weekend – gun convention, meeting up with friends I usually only relate to online and Ohio was about to adopt a substantial gun rights bill.

The reason Gerard’s article reminded me of these good times is that it was during this time frame that I wrote an article about Kimber USA’s distressing habit of making special edition pistols for California Law Enforcement agencies. In spring of 2008, you could not pick up a gun magazine without an advertisement on the back cover for Kimber’s latest special edition 1911, made for a California police agency.

I will not rehash the analysis I wrote, setting forth why Kimber’s production of firearms for law enforcement agencies dedicated to destroying gun rights was counter-productive. Read the original article for that. However, upon reading Gerard’s article, I grabbed my stack of gun magazines, going back to at least 2009, and saw that while Kimber was still the back cover advertiser, they were not advertising special edition California LEO guns anymore.

In fact, the Kimber SIS, the gun I complained about in the article, was quietly discontinued within a year, as was the LAPD SWAT edition.

Ohio Supreme Court confirms that Cleveland’s elected officials are morons

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By Ken Hanson, Esq.

In a 5-2 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court has recently affirmed that Cleveland’s elected officials, at least those not under indictment and awaiting trial on multiple felony charges, are jackasses.

The case arose as the result of Cleveland’s arguments in favor of the authority of municipalities to regulate firearms. Writing for the five justice majority, Justice Stratton wrote “What, are you guys really that stupid? We said you were wrong three years ago, and no means no. Now you are back? Get that weak crap out of here.”

Writing for the minority, Justice Pfeifer wrote “I still cannot believe that they let me run as an alleged conservative Republican. I mean damn, my judicial philosophy, when it isn’t completely random, is to the left of Karl Marx. WTF is the Ohio Republican Party thinking?”

Joining in Pfeifer’s dissent is Eric “I really, really need a job” Brown. Recently excluded from consideration for an appointment to the lowest court in Columbus, Brown commented “I was kinda, sorta qualified while at the same time way over qualified to be a municipal judge. Just look at the number of times I was in a dissent of one or two during my several months on the Ohio Supreme Court. You just cannot buy that type of irrelevlance.”

Beslan in America? Discover the plan terrorists have for your hometown … and prepare your family to survive!

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Beslan survivorOn September 1, 2004, terrorists seized a school in the town of Beslan, Russia, and took more than 1,100 people hostage, including 777 children.

They herded their victims into a small, sweltering gymnasium and, over the next three days, beat, tortured, and raped them.

Russian security forces finally stormed the school, setting off a chaotic battle. After a series of explosions, fire engulfed the building. In the end, over 300 hostages died, including 186 children.

Now you can experience this horrific event moment-by-moment, with inside information, video, and never-before-seen photos. You’ll learn why experts say terrorists may be plotting a similar attack in America. And, most importantly, you’ll learn what you must do to prepare your family to survive what many believe could happen at any time.

NSSF Statement on Legislation to “Improve” NICS

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The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry, has issued the following statement concerning legislation to “improve” the National Instant Criminal Background Check System:

When it comes to supporting commonsense measures that will help keep firearms out of the hands of those prohibited by law from possessing them, America’s firearms industry takes a backseat to no one. For example, members of the firearms industry have long-supported an instant background check for retail firearm purchases – this support predates the introduction of the Brady bill. We have also supported making improvements to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in order to increase the system’s speed and accuracy. This support, which includes calls for legislation that would improve state reporting of mental-health records into NICS, has been both vigorous and consistent.

As our record demonstrates, as long as Second Amendment and privacy rights are fully-respected, America’s firearms industry remains supportive of efforts to enhance safeguards that ensure firearms do not fall into those currently prohibited from possessing firearms.

Unfortunately, despite our industry’s longstanding efforts to ensure safe and lawful firearm ownership, anti-gun politicians are using the tragedy in Tucson to further their anti-gun agendas. Earlier this week, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) announced her upcoming introduction of the “Fix Gun Checks Act,” legislation designed to “strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.” While we await the language of her bill, we can only assume it will follow the Senate version (S. 436), introduced by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) earlier this month.

Despite the stated purpose of the bill, Mr. Schumer’s proposal does not seek to enhance the NICS system by merely incorporating names of those individuals who are already prohibited. Sen. Schumer’s bill takes multiple steps to add to the definition of what constitutes a prohibited person, thereby stripping American citizens of their individual constitutional right protected by the Second Amendment. In fact, the bill would not only qualify an untold number of individuals as being newly prohibited, but would actually establish a system whereby institutions and individuals could effectively and authoritatively strip law-abiding citizens of there constitutional rights – all without due process.

Here is what Sen. Schumer’s bill calls for:

Restoration of Rights bill (HB54) passes House committee

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HB54, sponsored by Representatives Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Jarrod Martin (R-Beavercreek) has passed out of the House Committee on Criminal Justice.

The committee, which is chaired by BFA “B*” -rated Rep. Lynn Slaby, passed HB54 with a 8-3 mostly party line vote (one Democrat Rep. Connie Pillich [D-28] joined seven Republicans in support of the bill). Three Democrats, Reps. Garland (D-20), Weddington (D-27), and Wilburn (D-40) voted against it. Reps. Lou Blessing (R-29) and Sandra Williams (D-11) were absent.

Due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has stopped accepting Ohio’s court orders restoring a citizen’s right to own firearms. The purpose of this bill is to update Ohio’s statutes to address this issue and protect Ohio citizens’ legal rights under the law.

“Someone who has been legally buying firearms, in some cases for many years after they received a legal Ohio restoration, may suddenly discover that he or she is back under a firearm disability because Ohio’s restoration of their firearm rights was not deemed complete by Federal authorities,” said Hanson. “The proposed bill realigns Ohio’s law with new Federal enforcement rules to effectively get the same result that has been working in Ohio for years.”

Read the legislation here:
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_HB_54

The bill now moves to the full House, where a floor vote is needed before it moves over to the Senate.

Meanwhile, we are now well into the second month of Senate inaction on its version of restaurant/ car carry rules fix legislation, SB17, and on Sen. Jason Wilson’s (D) SB61, which contains identical language to HB54. The Senate passed bills with identical language in the last session by significant bi-partisan majorities.

To the Editor: No, “many” American households don’t contain fully-automatic weapons

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[Editor’s Note: The following letter was written to the editor of The Dayton Daily News in response to a letter-writer who alleged that “fully-automatic weapons” are in “many households” in America.

Few legally own ‘machine guns’

Re “Common-sense gun rules are what we need,” March 6: Apparently, the letter writer is either grossly misinformed about laws relating to civilian possession and use of fully automatic firearms, which he alleges “many households have…fully automatic weapons…”, or he is deliberately spreading false information.

For a private citizen to legally possess a fully automatic firearm (a “machine gun” which fires more than one round with one pull of the trigger), a very specific and rigorous licensing process must be followed.

The applicant must apply to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for a license for such a weapon, include a letter of endorsement from his/her county sheriff, and pay a $200 fee.

I have owned and used firearms, and been a member of the so-called gun fraternity for 62 years, and a certified firearms instructor for 11 years. I have never personally known anyone who owned a fully automatic (Class 3) firearm.

Now, back to “common sense.” My common sense tells me that:

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