By Chad D. Baus

On Monday, the Associated Press published an opinion piece by John McCarty entitled "PERSPECTIVE: Economy, energy trump Ohio social issues". While the original news wire contained the word "perspective" in the headline, many newspapers removed that word and instead ran the story as fact. Their motivation for wanting to report it this way can be seen after reading the first couple of paragraphs:

A year after the Legislature's ban on gay marriages and concealed weapons took effect, social issues are largely absent from the House or Senate floor and hearing rooms.

It's going to stay that way, for now at least.

Senate President Bill Harris and House Speaker Jon Husted, both Republicans, say their priorities over the next nine months are reviving Ohio's economy, creating jobs and trying to contain the price of energy, especially gasoline and natural gas.

Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who sponsored the gay marriage ban, said many of the so-called values issues have already become law and it's time to focus on pocketbook issues.

"That's not to say we're deserting those issues. What hasn't turned around to anybody's satisfaction is the economy of the state of Ohio," Seitz said Friday.

In its October 2005 issue, America's 1st Freedom magazine is reporting that Canadian MP Garry Brietkreuz has reason to believe that the country's $2 billion gun registry debacle is being used by criminals to target potential burglaries.

From the story:

"We know from reports to our office by individual firearms owners (particularly owners of registered handguns) that there may be as many as 19 suspicious thefts in the Edmonton area alone," [Brietkreuz] says. "Most of these reported thefts involved the theft of multiple handguns from each residence and were reported either to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Edmonton Police Service, or both."

In the police reports filed by the victims, specific mention has been made about their suspicions that the thieves may be obtaining personal and private information about the types of firearms they own from the firearms registry."

Before the media access loophole was inserted into the law by Governor Taft as an 11th hour poison pill, legislators in Ohio were warned that newspapers would abuse the law and publish entire lists of concealed handgun license-holders. They were also warned that such lists could then be exploited by criminals wishing to steal firearms, and that instances of criminals targeting particular locations they know to contain specific valuables (such as firearms), and staking out or casing residences to make sure no one is home, are common and well documented. But few listened...

The Akron Beacon Journal called this warning a "flimsy presumption", and Gannett News Columbus Bureau Chief Jim Siegel said warnings about the dangers of publishing the list of CHL-holders "elevate these criminals to a level of sophistication they very likely do not possess..." At the time, even Attorney General Jim Petro called such a scenario "a stretch".

More than a year after the law was passed, however, Mr. Petro, who has done an excellent job implementing Ohio's concealed carry law, seems to have realized there are indeed instances where a person's personal, private information should be kept from the media.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

The mainstream media's blind commitment to opposing any gun rights legislation is giving a whole new meaning to the word BLIND.

On Friday September 16, the Associated Press botched a story it published after we broke the news that Rep. Aslanides' would soon be introducing a sweeping firearms law reform bill by reporting that "the media would lose access to lists of concealed-weapons permit-holders and could only check with sheriffs for specific names under a bill to be introduced in the Ohio House next week."

As we revealed in our coverage of the AP story, the reasons for the errors can perhaps be better understood by noting that Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman Jim Irvine says it was clear from his interview with AP writer John McCarty that he had not read the legislation. And unfortunately for McCarthy and wire service subscribers who published the story he prepared, the resulting factual errors begin not in the first paragraph, but in the headline itself.

Since that first erroneous story, which was republished dozens of times in wire service reports throughout the state, no less than four Ohio newspapers have published editorials repeating the same false accounts about what the legislation would do, even after the AP published a story clarifying what is in the bill.

The latest offender is the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which has published an editorial claiming that legislation "offered by Rep. Jim Aslanides of Coshocton would end journalists' access to the list of people granted a concealed-weapons permits [sic]", and repeating the lie a second time by saying that "lawmakers are seeking to close off public access completely."

This is absolutely false!

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Perhaps the very best thing about pro-Second Amendment grassroots activists is that so many of them work out of a passion for the issue, and not to make a buck. While Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence director Toby Hoover is busy raking in over half a million dollars from the anti-gun Joyce Foundation in the name of gun control extremism, there are many other true grassroots volunteers in Ohio are making a far greater impact on people's lives. One such person is a firearms instructor named Randy Garcia.

Last spring, Randy Garcia announced that his company, Buckeye Firearms Training, LLC, would be offering a free handgun and training to a select number of women who have been victims of violence.

From May 2005 to May 2006, Garcia's company is providing a free handgun and concealed handgun training to one woman per month. Training is being provided to women who are documented victims of violent crimes.

While the announcement was timed to coincide with the first anniversary of Ohio's concealed carry law, Garcia is also using the initiative to promote his commitment to helping women defend themselves and take advantage of concealed handgun laws.

“We want to show that we are declaring an all-out war against the abuse of women,” said Garcia.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that two Ohio municipalities have enacted bans on sex offenders in public parks, and that the ACLU is none-too happy about it.

From the story:

No dogs. No ball playing. No skateboarding. And now no sex offenders allowed in Brook Park's city parks.

The Cleveland suburb earlier this month became perhaps only the second community in Ohio to ban registered sex offenders from city parks and recreation centers.

Cuyahoga Falls banned sex offenders from city parks in June.

The story goes on to say that the ACLU of Ohio is looking into a constitutional challenge to the ban.

Kevin O'Neill, a law professor at Cleveland State University and former legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said the Brook Park and Cuyahoga Falls laws raise several constitutional issues.

The new laws might be challenged on the basis that they restrict freedom of movement or that they deny equal protection in that such laws single out convicted sex offenders for separate treatment even after they've served their time.

Why is it that the ACLU is so willing to defend the rights of convicted sex offenders, and so absolutely unwilling to defend the rights of law-abiding Ohio concealed handgun license-holder who wants to take a jog on a secluded park trail without having to disarm (thereby giving those same sex offenders an easier target)?

Why is the ACLU so willing to look the other way when certain city governments in Ohio enforce what amounts to a ban on self-defense in a public park, especially when Ohio law so clearly prohibits a ban on concealed carry in these places, and when the Ohio Attorney General has intervened in a lawsuit arguing same?

The Buckeye Firearms Association proudly announced many more endorsements in local races around the state today.

As a part of our expanded focus on general firearms issues, this political action committee intends to direct our attention to an increasing variety of local races in the state of Ohio for off-year elections. This year, there are a few contests which pique the interest of Buckeye Firearms Association, some because they are between pro-gun candidates and out-and-out liberal anti-gunners, and others because we wish to support pro-gun candidates in positions that could one day lead them to the Statehouse or Governor's mansion.

One of our latest endorsees, Columbus City Council candidate Phil Harmon, is holding a Shooting Competition Fundraiser Wednesday evening, September 28 - click here for information.

Thanks to those who helped bring us good candidates!

Click here to view the Candidate Voter Guide, which includes links to candidates' websites when available.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for a healthy reminder from PAC supporter Rick Jones on the importance of researching candidates and VOTING every time the polls are open.

VOTE!!!
By Rick Jones

When home repairs or new home construction are in the planning stages,
careful considerations are made regarding just who is going to be contracted

The Wilmington (DE) News Journal is reporting that there was no increase in crime or usage of previously banned weapons in Delaware after the Clinton Assault Weapons ban expired.

Since we all knew it was an ineffectual law one might ask why such a story even warrants comment. Because hidden in the story is Sarah Brady’s hope for the future and proof that anti-gun forces are biding there time and ultimately want to see it reinstated.

From the story:

Although precise figures are not available, police in Delaware have not reported an increase in crimes committed with previously banned weapons.
And area gun dealers say they have not seen an increase in demand, possibly because so many guns that had been legally manufactured before the law remained on the market through the decade-long ban.

But proponents and opponents of the legislation, which Congress declined to renew last year, remain divided on whether it accomplished anything -- and whether it should be reinstated.

"A year later, I still certainly feel we need the ban," said Sarah Brady, the Dewey Beach resident who founded the national gun-control group now known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

"Thank goodness we haven't seen any huge increase [in shootings]. That doesn't mean there isn't one around the corner," said Brady, whose husband, former White House press secretary Jim Brady, was seriously wounded after a 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan.

Brady went on further to say that although pro-gun forces are winning the political battle over the 2nd Amendment at the moment she will bide her time and wait until the pendulum swings back in her favor.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

An article in New York's Newsday Magazine Friday detailed how one gun was used by as many as five criminals in at least four shootings, and on how the black market for such guns is alive and well in spite of the state's oppressive gun control laws.

In a parking lot outside a club in Ronkonkoma, a Bay Shore man, Todd
Cincinnati, was shot in the buttocks after telling a stranger not to lean on his
car. It was the first in a series of shootings from March until July in Suffolk
County that involved as many as five gunmen and four victims - but just one gun.

During that spree, police said, the black .380 Hi-Point semiautomatic handgun
was used by a Bloods gang member, and later by a member of the Killer Thugs. It
left casings scattered at crime scenes from Ronkonkoma to Wyandanch, but was
only recovered in July, after the fifth time it was used, police say.

Until that day, the Hi-Point moved through a hidden market for illegal
weapons, where guns are bought anonymously and disposed of quickly, and where
traces of past ownership and evidence of crimes are wiped away clean.

"They go from hand to hand to hand," said former gang member Sergio Argueta,
founder of STRONG Youth, a Hempstead-based gang intervention organization. "For
a lot of kids, it's harder to get their hands on a pack of cigarettes than it is
to get a gun."

For police, the fear is simple: More illegal guns means more gun crimes, said
Insp. James Burke, commanding officer of the Suffolk District Attorney's Squad.

Note those words again: "...more illegal guns means more gun crimes." The article reports that reports of shootings and illegal gun activity is on the rise on Long Island, and then suggests a place to focus the blame.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Last year, the warnings were dire.

The Clinton Gun Ban expired on September 13, 2004, after months and months of shrill screams from gun ban extremists that the sunset would result in the rein of terror on American streets

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein warned if the ban sunsetted "you can expect more incidents'' such as the July 1, 1993, shootings at 101 California in which a gunman used two TEC-9 semiautomatic weapons on a rampage through the office tower.

Even in a press release after the expiration, Sue Ann Schiff, Executive Director of Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV) breathlessly warned that "existing laws must be vigorously enforced and many more jurisdictions must act to help keep these horrific weapons of war off our streets."

Schiff observed that the gun industry has eagerly anticipated the expiration of the federal law. "Production of assault weapons is expected to increase and prices of the weapons are expected to drop as gun manufacturers flood the civilian marketplace," she stated. "The need for strong state and local gun policies is more urgent than ever."

But contrary to these and other such warnings, the Washington Times is now http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050925-114359-9165r.htm " target="_blank">reporting news that should forever sink what was left of the credibility of gun ban extremists in our nation.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

The Los Angeles Times' coverage of the 20th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference shows how having such a national conference in a place with heavy gun control laws can envigorate gun rights activists who are fighting in the local trenches.

Paul Wilder avidly defends the right to bear arms, and he's heard all the insults. Crazy, trigger-happy, gun nut -- to name a few.

Standing outside a hotel ball room near LAX on Saturday where 400 gun rights
advocates from around the country gathered for the 20th annual Gun Rights Policy
Conference, Wilder tried to explain the stigma that he and his fellow devotees
of the 2nd Amendment were up against.

"There's this perception out that we're all rednecks who want a shootout in
the OK Corral, but I'm a schoolteacher, and there are attorneys and doctors and
people of all walks of life here," said Wilder, 44, who also edits books. "We're
just average citizens who want our views heard."

Attendees at the two-day conference, which is held in a different city in the
country each year, ranged from Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the
National Rifle Assn., to individual gun owners such as Wilder who were
interested in learning about issues for gun owners.

For many of California's grass-roots firearms activists, the two-day event
was a rare chance to hear from leaders of the national movement.

"It's definitely invigorating," Wilder said. "It's tough; we're kind of
fighting in the trenches."

Apart from trade shows, Wilder said he had never seen so many gun rights
people in the same room.

The newspaper said event organizers acknowledged that California seems an odd place
for a gun rally given its relatively strict ownership and registration laws, they said their mission includes bringing their message to places where it's not always welcome.

"It's important to come to the belly of the beast every once in a while,"
said Peggy Tartaro, a board member for the national Citizens Committee for the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which co-sponsored the event.

For more from the conference, read the blog from Buckeye Firearms Association's Jim Irvine, who was a guest speaker.