We wish the Plain Dealer editorial board would explore their roots on the issue of firearms. We didn't know her, but we will miss her.

Marnie Vail McCausland, a sure shot

09/16/03

Services for Marnie Vail McCausland, a National Rifle Association women's muzzleloading rifle champion whose family owned The Plain Dealer for more than 80 years, will be at 1 p.m. today at Vorhis Funeral Home, 5501 Montgomery Road, Norwood, Ohio.

McCausland, 45, whose given name was Marienne Vail, died of complications from cancer Wednesday at the Hospice of Cincinnati.

The Cleveland native, who grew up in Shaker Heights, was a descendant of Liberty E. Holden, who bought The Plain Dealer in 1885 and whose heirs owned the paper until 1967. Thomas H. White, founder of White Sewing Machine Co., also was one of her ancestors.

McCausland's parents, Kay Vail, who lives in Shaker Heights, and H. Lansing Vail Jr., who died in June, fostered her passion for the outdoors and game hunting.

Her husband, Samuel, who died of cancer in 2001, shared her love of firearms. He introduced her to muzzleloaders, which marksmen load with black powder.

Since the mid-1990s, McCausland won several NRA and National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association sharpshooting contests.

She also worked in the firearms industry. McCausland, who held a communications degree from Cedarville University, was a range officer for Target World of Cincinnati and a public relations adviser for Thompson Center Arms of Rochester, N.H. More recently, she managed communications for Savage Arms, a Massachusetts-based manufacturer of muzzleloaders and classic firearms.

McCausland hunted antelope in Wyoming, bagged a bear in West Virginia and ran a whitetail deer hunt for women in Texas. She also participated in historic re-enactments, showed her quarter horse, rode motorcycles and climbed Mount Rainier.

Surviving with her mother are her brother, Robert L. Vail of Russell Township, and sister, Delia Fritz of Hackettstown, N.J.

Donations may be made to:

Hospice of Cincinnati, 4310 Cooper Road, Cincinnati 45242.

Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH 45314.

Any chapter of the American Cancer Society.

Click here to read the tribute in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

09/13/03
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Columbus - Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer gave his first
clear public signal yesterday that he intends to run for a fourth six-year term as the court's leader.

A screening committee for the Ohio Republican Party interviewed Moyer and
incumbent Justices Paul Pfeifer and Terrence O'Donnell.

The terms of Moyer and Pfeifer expire next year. O'Donnell must run to fill the unexpired term of former Justice Deborah Cook, who was appointed to the
federal bench. Gov. Bob Taft chose O'Donnell to replace Cook in May.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for the full story.

Ohio NRA members' various October magazines will be hitting mailboxes this week. They contain a bonus - a letter containing the following text will be inserted into every magazine:

DON'T LET THE OHIO LEGISLATURE AND
GOVERNOR TAFT PREVENT YOU FROM DEFENDING YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY

For the first time in ten years, Right-to-Carry reform stands on the brink of being a reality in Ohio. But there are still those who want to deny your right to choose how best to defend yourself and your family
from violent criminals.

Ohio's House of Representatives has passed House Bill 12, sponsored by Rep. Jim Aslanides, to allow law-abiding citizens who have taken a training course to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun
for personal protection.

The Ohio Senate, however, passed a version of HB 12 that would require a permit holder traveling in a car with anyone under age 18 to secure his handgun in a locked box. This provision would make the
firearm useless for self-defense and render the Right-to-Carry law meaningless.

Unless a Conference Committee of House and Senate members is formed in September to work out the differences, HB 12 will die. We've come too close to let that happen. It's time to make your voice heard.

Please contact your State Senator, Representative, and Gov. Bob Taft and urge them to support the formation of an HB 12 Conference Committee. Make sure to express your opposition to the locked box provision. And, above all, please make sure your elected officials and Gov. Taft understand that law-abiding Ohioans deserve to choose for themselves how best to protect their families.

Please make the calls today.

The safety of your family is at stake.

Contact Governor Bob Taft at (614) 644-4357.

Names and phone numbers of State Senators and Representatives can be found on the back of this insert.