Copyright 2011, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action. Speaking of people who believe they are smarter than the masses, Fox News reports that National Public Radio president Vivian Schiller,…
BFA Legislative Chair Ken Hanson offers proponent testimony on HB54 (Restoration of Rights)
by Chad D. Baus
Buckeye Firearms Association’s Legislative Chair Ken Hanson offered testimony today in support of Restoration of Rights legislation before the House Committee on Criminal Justice.
His testimony follows:
President Obama signals quiet surrender on gun control
by Ken Hanson
This past Presidential election, gun owners had much cause for concern. John McCain, a lukewarm gun supporter or gun banner, depending upon the day, was running against eventual winner Obama, a former member of the Joyce Foundation board of directors, the Joyce foundation being a leading financial supporter of gun control activism.
Since that time, President Obama has surprised his suitors by signing more pro-gun legislation in one year than Bush 43 signed in eight years. This earned him a solid “F” rating from the Brady groups, and others disappointed that the black helicopters were not immediately dispatched against gun owners upon his ascension.
In a laughably ineffectual gesture towards his gun control base, President Obama this week published an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star, some two months after the shooting of a congresswoman in Arizona. In this op-ed, our President, the supposed, hoped-for new leader on gun control, took the radical positions that we should 1.) enforce current laws, 2.) encourage states to report their own data to the NICS system (i.e. criminal convictions and mental disability adjudications) and 3.) make our current “instant check” system somehow more, um, instant.
Take his name off the byline, and you’d have trouble separating Obama’s op-ed from NRA talking point memos.
The fact that president Obama is reduced to mere spin-parroting of the positions of pro-gun groups is an important indicator for 2012. Two years into his term, in the face of stern rebuking from gun control groups that zealously supported him, the best he comes up with is an echo of an NRA press release.
Restaurant & Car Carry Rules Fix legislation (HB45) passes House committee
[Editor’s Note: This article was updated throughout the afternoon of March 15 as new information became available.]
A bill that would make critical improvements to Ohio’s concealed carry laws has passed out of the House Committee on State Government and Elections. The committee, which is chaired by BFA “A” -rated Rep. Bob Mecklenborg, passed HB45 with a 12-10 mostly party line vote (the only Republican to join the Democrats in opposition to the bill was Rep. Richard Hollington [R-98]). Rep. Randy Gardner was absent.
The bill now moves to the full House, where a floor vote is needed before it moves over to the Senate.
HB45 would make long-sought improvements for concealed carry license-holders in Ohio. The first addresses restrictions on concealed carry in motor vehicles. Currently, the State of Ohio highly regulates licensed carry, unlike any other state. This places undue restrictions and burdens on Ohio citizens. It is particularly difficult for visitors from other states who have never had to deal with restrictions as convoluted and confusing as current Ohio law. Under HB45, a license-holder will be able to carry a loaded handgun in a vehicle – period.
The other change will allow license-holders to carry guns in restaurants that serve alcohol as long as they are not intoxicated. Even with this modification, Ohio law would still be far more restrictive than most states, including our border states that allow consumption by license-holders. HB45 is a zero tolerance bill and clearly does not “mix guns and alcohol,” as many newspapers and anti-freedom groups say. To be legal in a restaurant, license-holders may not consume any alcohol, and may not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Before the bill passed, seven hostile amendments were defeated, each of which were offered by Democrats.
Obama officially, publicly calls for new gun control; [Update: NRA responds]
by Chad D. Baus
On Sunday, March 13, 2011, the president of the United States began publicly call for new gun control limits against law-abiding citizens in hopes of curtailing the behavior of the lawless. Gun rights activists have known this day was coming since the day Barack Obama won his party’s nomination (and since John McCain won his).
In an op-ed published in the Arizona Daily Star, Obama pointed to the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in his carefully worded, no-doubt poll-tested call for “reform.”
(Note: That the newly-elected House leadership will stop any Obama “reform” item dead in its tracks is by no means a sure thing. Consider these recent headlines: “GOP to look at federal gun laws” and “Boehner meets with NYC Mayor Bloomberg“)
Parroting recent press releases from gun control organizations like Mayors Against Illegal Guns and The Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, Obama wrote that improved and expanded background checks are needed to prevent gun violence.
But as the National Shooting Sports Foundation has stated, “the recent incident in Tucson was not caused by the lack of any gun-control law but by a breakdown in our nation’s mental health system.” Nevertheless, NSSF has said that the industry remains supportive of making further enhancements to the current system, provided the Second Amendment and privacy rights of law-abiding Americans are fully respected.
While Obama’s op-ed was long on poll-tested rhetoric and short on specifics, there can be no doubt that what he will support is mandatory background checks on ALL transfers of firearms, including those between private individuals at gun shows, such as is proposed in U.S. Senate Bill 35. And based on his record, there can be no doubt he would sign much more egregious gun control legislation should Congress manage to pass it.
Restaurant & Car Carry Rules Fix bill may come to a vote – please help us now!
Our pro-gun bills hang in the balance. We need to turn up the heat with MORE emails and MORE calls! A vote could be coming this week on our bill, Restaurant Carry…
In America Today, a Gun Saved a Life
Editor’s Note: This commentary was also published recently at TheLandoftheFree.net.
by Gerard Valentino
Statistics tell us that today, somewhere in America, a gun saved someone’s life. The person alive because they chose to own a gun and use it for self-defense might be a teacher, or a factory worker, or a computer programmer.
Unlike the mainstream media portrayal of gun owners, they are not all toothless, hillbilly vigilante wannabes. So a son, father, wife, daughter or mother might be going home to an average American family because a gun was used to ward of a violent attacker. Instead of being free to attack again, the criminal in question is also going somewhere: to jail, or the morgue.
But, if you believe the anti-gun crowd, guns are a blight on society and an evil that needs to be eradicated.
Try telling that to a woman who woke up to the proverbial “thump in the night” and the only thing standing between her and a violent criminal is a .45 caliber handgun, or 12 gauge shotgun. The same holds true for a man who is attacked by a hammer-wielding crack addict after getting cash from the local ATM.
To believe in gun control, you have to believe that society is better off if the woman doesn’t have a gun to defend herself and the violent criminal is free to act without fear.
Gun control advocates also have to believe that society wins if the crack addict gets the man’s hard-earned cash after beating him to death, instead of getting three .40 caliber bullets to the chest, which is what such a criminal truly deserves.
When all the spin and media-created fluff is cleared away, the gun issue comes down to whether society benefits if the woman attacked in her home, or the man withdrawing money from his bank account are left to become victims, or empowered to become survivors.
Op-Ed: Banning guns is not the answer
[Editor’s Note: In 2006, a woman who identified herself as representing the NCJW testified against legislation which eventually codified Ohio’s statewide preemption law. Just last week, the NCJW testified against HB45, Ohio’s…
Restoration of Rights bill scheduled for third hearing in House; Buckeye Firearms Association to offer testimony
The House Committee on Criminal Justice, which is chaired by BFA “B*” -rated Rep. Lynn Slaby, will hear proponent/ opponent and interested party testimony on HB54, sponsored by Representatives Ron Maag (R-Lebanon)…
Gun ‘buy back’ minister charged with kidnapping, assault
by Chad D. Baus
The Akron Beacon-Journal recently reported that a local minister had been charged with felonious assault, kidnapping and abduction after allegedly of speeding off in his Lexus with a repo man on hood.
Falzini said that while he was standing in front of the car reporting the repossession to Akron police, Neal got inside and turned the key.
“I said, ‘Hey what are you doing?’ And he put it in reverse, he puts in drive, ran into me and knocked me over onto the hood of the car,” Falzini said.
The car went down a side street, through a stop sign and onto East Wilbeth Road at speeds Falzini estimates between 40 and 60 mph. He said the pastor was smiling during parts of the drive as he weaved and made sharp moves in an apparent effort to toss the repo man off.
“He hit the windshield wipers to try to knock my hands off the hood,” Falzini said. “He was laughing at me, telling me he was going to take me on the interstate.”
The article piqued gun rights blogger David Codrea’s curiosity, and what he learned about Neal will interest gun rights advocates everywhere. You see, what Codrea learned is that Mr. Neal has promoted gun control as a way to end violence.