October 31, 2004
Toledo Blade

John Kerry a hunter and strong supporter of the Second Amendment? His voting record in the Senate sure does not reflect that. He never voted with gun owners or for that matter any issues that benefited hunters. And when he and John Edwards leave the campaign trail to cast their votes for the semi-automatic weapons ban, that certainly says to me that they are not the strong supporters of the Second Amendment that the Democratic leader in Ohio would want us to believe.

As far as I'm concerned, John Kerry is very weak on gun rights and does nothing to preserve our hunting heritage. It looks like it was all just a photo opportunity to fool some people into thinking otherwise.

Jim Szych
Bennett Road

October 25, 2004
Marion Star

This letter is in response of "Setting the Record Straight" in Monday's edition, Oct. 11, and Sunday's edition, Oct. 17, 2004.

Sen. John Kerry is not for the 2nd Amendment at all. He has voted for all gun bans that have come up on the floor. In fact, 51 times altogether. Check the record.

He wants to take away our right to bear arms. A disarmed American that does not have the right to defend itself. I'd hate to think what would happen then, especially if a terrorist attack would take place in our country. The crime rate would shoot sky high, as it did in London by 85 percent. Throwing rocks is not a very good defense against guns.

There is approximately 80 to 90 million gun owners in our nation. That's a lot of firepower, don't you think?

Stop and think of all the men and women who have paid the ultimate price to protect our freedom. Mr. Kerry is trying to trick you into thinking he is a hunter. Don't you believe it. As I said earlier, 51 times he has voted against gun owners. Nov. 2 is the day you should protect your constitutional rights. Don't let the gun banners take our freedom from us.

God bless America.

Don Delauder
Marion

October 24, 2004
Arkansas News Bureau

Guns a big issue in Arkansas

By Rob Moritz

LITTLE ROCK - Hunting is a major sport in Arkansas, especially in the 1st and 4th congressional districts of its eastern and southern regions, which may explain why voters there see guns as a major issue in the race.

A new poll for the Arkansas News Bureau and Stephens Media Group found that 60 percent of voters think a candidate's stand on gun rights is important in deciding how to vote in the presidential race. Thirty-nine percent said it is "very important," and 21 percent said it is "somewhat important."

Seventeen percent said it is "not too important" and 22 percent said it is "not at all important."

The poll, conducted Oct. 18-20 by Opinion Research Associates Inc., of Little Rock, surveyed 500 likely voters, 125 in each congressional district. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

The poll shows that support for gun rights is high in each district, and among Democrats, Republicans and independents.

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Political analysts said it's difficult to say how the gun rights issue will affect the presidential race because both candidates have said they support the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

They did note that President Bush has tried to paint his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, as a liberal who favors gun control.

The Bush campaign's strategy appears to have gained some traction because the Kerry campaign has been pointing out the senator's interest in hunting and target shooting, said Andrew Dowdle, assistant professor of political science at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

"Kerry has made a point to say on a number of occasions that he is a gun owner and loves hunting," said Dowdle, who specializes in presidential campaigns and elections. He added that Kerry last week had a much publicized goose hunting trip in Ohio, a key battleground state.

"Arkansans love hunting and the outdoors, so gun rights is something you expect to be important all across the state," Dowdle said.

Among the parties, 70 percent of Republicans said gun rights are important - 49 percent very and 21 percent somewhat. Twenty-nine percent ranked it as not too or not at all important.

Among Democrats, 54 percent said gun rights issue is important - 32 percent very and 22 percent somewhat. Forty-five said the issue is not too or not at all important.

Of independents, 56 percents said important, 39 percent very and 17 percent somewhat. Forty-three percent said it is not too or not at all important.

Mitchell Lowe, executive director of the Arkansas Bush-Cheney campaign, said the president has a strong record in favor of gun rights, while Kerry has "voted 50 times against the Second Amendment."

Lowe said Kerry may talk about supporting gun rights, but his 20 years in the U.S. Senate show otherwise.

"If you want your gun rights to be limited ... John Kerry is your candidate," he said.

Click here to read the entire story.

Related Stories:
How chasing the ''gun guy'' image is hurting Kerry in swing states

Youngstown Mayor McKelvey: John Kerry Can’t Camouflage His Record

What John Kerry did was not hunting - it was killing

Cartoon courtesy of Jeff Riffle

October 27, 2004
Newark Advocate

John Kerry runs around with a shotgun under his arm on the campaign trail for a good reason: Just as he is trying to fool minorities into believing his lies to get their vote, he is trying to fool gun owners into believing he is pro-Second Amendment to get their votes also.

Here are some facts on his record:

The Celina Daily Standard is reporting to day that David P. Rinderle Jr., 34, 8075 Old Town Road, (Celina), has been charged with menacing in connection with an apparent case of road rage involving himself and a 70 year-old farmer driving a John Deere combine.

According to the story, Mercer County Sheriff's deputies responded to Riley Road, north of Oldtown Road, at 3:15 p.m. Oct. 10 on reports of a man drawing a loaded weapon at a motorist.

Rinderle told deputies he was forced to drive his 1998 Mercury Mountaineer into the side ditch to avoid hitting the farm vehicle. He claimed the combine's left front tire was left of center at the time.

Sheriff's office reports, as quoted by the Daily Standard, indicate the motorist reportedly turned around, passed the combine again and stopped in the roadway approximately 100 feet in front of the combine. The man got out of the vehicle leaving his wife and two children inside and began yelling at the 70-year-old farmer to get the combine over for traffic. The motorist climbed the steps to the cab and opening the door while continuing his verbal rebuke.

The newspaper story continues, reporting that the older man told deputies he felt threatened by the irate intruder, warned Rinderle he had protection and displayed a holstered 9-mm semiautomatic pistol on his lap. The motorist reportedly grabbed the gun and threw it into a nearby clover field.

Deputies determined the older man did have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The gun, along with a magazine containing eight rounds of ammunition, was located and taken into evidence.

The farmer told authorities he could only get over so far, fearing he would lose control of the combine in the event it went into the side ditch.

The case was referred to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, which returned the charge against Rinderle. The Daily Standard reports the paperwork was served over the weekend.

OFCC steering team observations:

The following press release was sent out by 2004 OFCC PAC endorsee Joy Padgett's campaign earlier this week.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 25, 2004

ANDERSON CAMPAIGN FINANCES IN QUESTION

(Columbus, Ohio) - Monies provided to fund the state senate campaign of Terry Anderson may violate Ohio campaign finance laws it was discovered this week. Following the required disclosure of campaign finances on Friday, Anderson's campaign is being referred for investigation to the Ohio Elections Commission by Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

In question are a series of loans Anderson made to or secured for his campaign, unlawfully funding the campaign with either personal funds, an illegal corporate contribution, or a combination of both.

"Under any circumstance, Mr. Anderson has broken the law," said Padgett campaign consultant Scott Borgemenke. "Either he has accepted an illegal corporate contribution, secured the loan in excess of his own personal funds cap, or someone else secured the loan on his behalf exceeding their contribution limit."

Under Ohio Administrative Code 111-1-03(H)(2), a bank loan to a political campaign will be deemed an illegal corporate contribution unless, among other requirements, it is "made on a basis which assures repayment." In other words, the bank loan must be secured by a guarantor, a co-signor, or some other form of security.

Anderson's report discloses no form of security. But, if secured, the amount will exceed both personal funds and contribution limits. As reported, the loan appears to be an illegal corporate contribution.

In addition to the Secretary of State's action, the campaign of state Senator Joy Padgett is demanding that the campaign either refund the illegal corporate contribution or - if the campaign finance report misrepresented the loan by failing to disclose the security for such a loan - rectify the filing and follow the law.

Commentary:
Terry Anderson officially announced his candidacy for Senate on December 29. At that event, Anderson revealed his position on concealed carry reform.

"To me, it's a false issue," he said. "It's a hot-button issue that gets to people's emotions, but it's not relevant to most real lives here. Passing concealed carry is not going to bring one more dollar into the schools of southeastern Ohio."

Padgett has been involved with state government since 1991, and was the original sponsor of legislation allowing certain Ohioans to carry concealed firearms.

Anderson, a past member of the liberal academic and media-elite, has never held public office.

According to sources, George Soros' 527 group ACT has been heavily involved in working Senate District 20 in support of Terry Anderson.

Related Stories:
KEY OH Senate race: Pro-CCW Padgett faces challenge in Appalachia

Democrat Senate hopeful Terry Anderson has not voted in nearly four years

Pro-concealed carry Joy Padgett sworn in as senator

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting today that Cincinnati police are looking for a man they suspect has raped two men and a 14-year-old boy in a case veteran investigators say is the first they can remember in which a rapist attacks males.

The newspaper reports Capt. Vince Demasi, investigations commander, says detectives don't have much to go on, beyond the rarity of male rape victims.

According to the Enquirer, the first incident happened Aug. 6 in Boldface Park, Sedamsville. In that report, a 14-year-old told police a man with a gun forced him to have sex with him.

The most recent incident happened about 1:15 a.m. Oct. 15 on Wheeler Street near the University of Cincinnati. That time, the newspaper says, a 19-year-old UC student told police a man approached him from behind and asked for cigarettes.

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When the student turned around, he said, the suspect pulled a black handgun, forced him into a garage, pulled down his pants and sexually assaulted him.

Between those two incidents, police say, another man reported being robbed near Boldface Park. That victim did not say he was raped, but according to the newspaper police think he is not acknowledging an assault, Zwick said.

The victims "are having a lot of problems with the emotional trauma,'' Demasi said. "It's a violent assault.''

One in six women will be the victims of attempted or a completed rape in their lifetimes, according to a study by the National Institutes of Justice-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That compares, a rape crisis counselor told the Enquirer, to 3 percent of American men being the victim of an attempted or completed rape.

October 27, 2004
Cleveland Plain Dealer

News organizations across the state and the nation fell head over heels to cover John Kerry's "hunting trip" in Ohio as if he were an avid hunter. Not a single news report called the event what it truly was: a photo opportunity intended to mislead the masses.

Bill Clinton claimed the National Rifle Association cost Al Gore the 2000 election. Kerry's campaign is well aware of this and is making every effort to mislead gun owners. Unions are telling their members that "John Kerry won't take your gun," knowing full well that Kerry has an anti-gun voting history.

Kerry is endorsed by every major anti-gun special interest group, including the Brady Campaign, previously known as Handgun Control Inc. Kerry is also endorsed by PETA, the animal rights group that wants to eliminate hunting entirely. Is that why he didn't carry his supposed kill?

John Kerry should be sent hunting for a new job by gun-owning union members who have been betrayed by the candidate and their union leadership.

Jeff Garvas, Cleveland
Garvas is president of Ohioans for Concealed Carry.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for a second letter to the PD editor from a member of the "head-in-the-sand" crowd..

October 19, 2004
Marietta Times

Edited to topic

In answer to a letter to the editor published July 9, those elected in the Senate who want to usurp our constitutional right, namely the Second Amendment, are as follows - Clinton, Kerry, Kennedy, Feinstein, Schumer, Lautenberg, and, of course, there are a few others. The Second Amendment stipulated in the Constitution states that the citizens have a right to keep and bear arms. These same senators claim that only the National Guard should have guns. Sometimes I wonder how these people got elected in the first place.

[Some] in the Democratic party believe that this constitutional document is outdated and meaningless. However, if we don't strictly adhere to this document we will lose all freedoms. If the First and Second amendments are lost, then we have lost all of them.

If more gun laws are implemented, the next step could be a fingerprinting proposal that would do nothing to fight crime and would serve as a back doorway to register your guns and give the government bureaucrats the power to decide if you are "fit" to own a firearm. A huge new gun and ammunition tax would shut down hunting for all but the wealthiest Americans.

This right for Americans to own firearms has been in existence since the Constitution was written. It is a simple matter of freedom. John Kerry has voted 51 of 55 opportunities against the Second Amendment of this Constitution to take these rights from law abiding citizens.

These are some things which will probably happen if Kerry gets elected:

Michael DeBose (D), House District 12

Michael DeBose told the Cleveland Plain Dealer it's tough to be a Democrat in the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature... He was appointed to fill the vacant Ohio House of Representatives District 12 seat in 2002. DeBose opposes allowing people to carry concealed weapons.

"I have seen too many people killed by guns over the years," he told the Plain Dealer. "I've been a robbery victim myself and have had a gun pulled on me. I don't see the benefit of allowing people to carry guns."

OFCC PAC has endorse his opponent, Republican Anthony Cefaratti of Maple Heights.

David Pomerantz (D), House District 17

Democrat David Pomerantz is against the concealed-weapons law, and in the Plain Dealer, he called it a "serious danger to Ohioans, particularly children."

Pomerantz is hoping to unseat two-time OFCC PAC endorsee Rep. James Trakas (R).

Trakas told the newspaper he supports concealed-carry because Ohioans living in rural areas where only a sheriff's department provides countywide law enforcement were concerned about personal security.

Bobby Bland (D), House District 18

In a pre-election interview with the Plain Dealer, Bobby Bland said he opposes concealed carry law. "The less guns the better. We need more policemen."

Bland is hoping to unseat two-time OFCC PAC endorsee Rep. Thomas Patton (R).

Patton told the newspaper that in states with similar laws, "crimes against women have dropped dramatically. I have five daughters, so that means a lot to me."