By Jim Irvine
A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Stickups and Burglaries are on the Rise – at work” focused on the rise in crime in business locations.
Holiday bloodshed in Chicagoland highlights the sheer impotence of gun control laws
By Gerard Valentino
The holiday season is supposed to be a time when Americans reflect on the good things in their life and give thanks for the blessings they’ve enjoyed during the year. In Chicago, however, the holidays are yet another time of murder and mayhem – despite the city administration’s anti-gun laws and strict gun-control.
CBS2Chicago.com is again reporting on the violence plaguing one of the truly great cities in the world. We can’t forget that Chicago is also one of the most anti-gun places in America, yet this past Thanksgiving weekend it was drenched in blood.
All told, nine Chicagoans died in a bloody weekend that reflects the city’s violent past – and present.
Buckeye Firearms Association’s Linda Walker quoted in article about rise of female hunters, Ohio woman’s buck harvest
By Chad D. Baus
The Lorain Morning-Journal took the occasion of a 60 year-old Carlisle Township woman’s harvest of a 10 point buck on opening day of Ohio’s deer-gun season to report on the rise of female hunters across the country. Reporter Megan Rozsa sought the expertise of Buckeye Firearms Association Central Ohio Chair Linda Walker in preparation for her article.
Interview with Ken Hanson on Chicago gun ban case posted at Buckeye Firearms Association’s YouTube channel
To view other pro-gun videos, please visit and subscribe to the Buckeye Firearms Association YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BuckeyeFirearms
Attorney General announces Third Quarter 2009 CHL statistics
2009 already busiest year ever for concealed carry licenses
By Jim Irvine
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (D) has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the third quarter of 2009. The demand for licenses to conceal carry firearms remained strong last quarter, marking an unprecedented ten quarters in a row with an increased demand compared to the same year over year period. Concealed carry continues to be something both long-time and new gun owners are interested in. If you buy a handgun for self defense, it makes sense to get the license needed to carry it with you.
The third quarter in 2009 saw a whopping 54% increase over the same period in 2008. In terms of original issued licenses issued in the quarter, it trailed only 2004 which was the first year, and only the second quarter of Ohio’s concealed carry law. The 11,760 licensed issued amounted to only a 3% decline from the initial surge that first year. Taking into account the 3,600 licenses renewed during the quarter there were a total of 15,360 licenses issued – or a 27% increase over the same period in 2004. As has been previously noted, it is highly unusual that demand in later years exceeds the initial surge, but improvements to a bad law and fear of the Obama administration coupled with a poor economy explain the ongoing trend.
The 3,600 licenses renewed during the period was a decline from prior quarters, but that is simply a reflection of a lower demand for initial licenses four years ago. The 3,600 renewals was a record 80% of those expiring during the period. It is too soon to tell if the renewal this is an anomaly or a new normal effected by the lower renewal fee that became effective October 17, 2009 as a result of HB1. Either way there is now a record 169,000 Ohio citizens licensed to carry a concealed handgun. (See chart)
Letter writers set newspapers straight on anti-concealed carry editorial
(Note: This story has been updated to reflect the publishing of additional letters.)
On November 19, 2009, the Hamilton News-Journal and Middletown Journal, sister papers which are both owned by Cox Ohio Publishing, responded to an anti-concealed carry report issued by the Violence Policy Center (“Concealed Carry Killers”) by running an unsigned editorial entitled “Tracking a bad law’s aftermath.”
In the editorial, the anonymous writers asserted that concealed carry permit-holders are, at the very least, vigilantes with “macho fantasies” and at worst, potential mass murders. The editorial unquestioningly repeated many of the vehemently anti-gun VPC’s allegations as fact, and saying they were “glad someone is trying to keep a tally of the carnage.”
The editorial has since been run in several other Ohio newspapers, including the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (a Gannett Co. newspaper), and the Ravenna Record Publisher, which is owned by Dix Communications. Only the Record Publisher gave attribution to another paper when they republished the editorial on their website.
At long last, both the Journal-News and Middletown Journal have published letters to the editor that were written in response to the editorial.
OSU’s Second Amendment Research Center shut down; Anti-gun “think tank” had ties to Obama
By Chad D. Baus
Randy Barnett, writer for the pro-gun blog The Volokh Conspiracy, is reporting that the Ohio State University’s Second Amendment Research Center (SARC), an anti-gun “think tank” with strong ties to Barack Obama, has been shut down.
Barnett notes that the ex-Center’s URL [http://www.secondamendmentcenter.org] is out of service and the OSU operator had no information. The story goes on to say that the Center’s director, historian Saul Cornell, this year moved on to a chair at Fordham University, and his bio shows the dates of the SARC to be 2002–2008.
White-tailed Deer Hunters Successful on Opening Day of Gun Season
Statewide harvest up from 2008
COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio hunters had near ideal weather for the opening day of deer-gun season. Hunters took 33,607 white-tailed deer on Monday, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The deer-gun season remains open through Sunday, December 6, and then reopens for two days on Saturday and Sunday, December 19-20.
The preliminary figures from deer check stations throughout the state show a slight increase of 1.7 percent from last year’s opening day total of 33,034.
Saturday, December 5 is Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry Day in Ohio
It is free for hunters to donate a deer; no processing cost for the hunter
COLUMBUS, OH – With the opening day of Ohio’s deer-gun season on November 30, hunters are reminded that donating a deer is free at meat processors participating in the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) venison donation program.
Participating meat processors can be found by visiting the FHFH page at www.fhfh.org.
Although venison donations are accepted any day during the deer hunting season, September 26 – February 7, 2010, Saturday, December 5 has been designated as FHFH Day. Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Chief Dave Graham challenges all deer hunters to make this year special for Ohio’s hungry. Last year, hunters showed they cared by donating nearly 220,000 meals to Ohioans in need.
“I personally challenge Ohio’s hunters to double that number this year and to help us all to remember to make the donations. I’m going to label Saturday, December 5, as Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry Day,” said Chief Graham. “I will try to take a doe that day and I’ll donate it to the FHFH program.”
The FHFH Web site also allows people to donate cash that will supplement the funds being raised to help pay for processing the meat.
Women hunters on the rise, participation up 3.5% in past 5 years
Between 2003 and 2008, women who hunted with firearms increased 3.5 percent to 2.9 million, according to new data from the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). Women who participated in bowhunting rose 1.5 percent to 600,000 during that time.
And according to the Shreveport Times, Louisiana can attest to the recent rise in female participation. This year alone, the number of women with hunting licenses jumped 12 percent there when compared to 2007-08.