Choosing among friends

Two pro-concealed carry Republican candidates have announced that they will compete in the March primary for the chance to replace Senator Doug White in District 14. White is term-limited, and cannot seek re-election.

Both Rep. Tom Niehaus and Rep. Jean Schmidt have good voting records for concealed carry reform in the Ohio House. Both will certainly continue that record in the Senate, if elected. Conventional wisdom would suggest that when two friends of an issue are competing as such, the issue-based advocacy group should choose to stay out of the process, and not make an endorsement.

Here's why we aren't following conventional wisdom.

For years, Ohioans have struggled to restore the right to self defense to defenseless citizens. And for the past few years, the legislative chamber most likely to cause hangups in the fight has been the Ohio Senate.