By Jim Irvine

Recently, several Buckeye Firearms Association volunteers have become Refuse To Be A Victim® instructors.

Refuse To Be A Victim® is an NRA course, but it is a personal safety course, not a firearms course. The only thing better than having a firearm when you need it to defend your life, is avoiding the life threatening event in the first place. That is the purpose of this class. It’s a good course for anyone, without regard to your feelings about guns.

Chris Chumita is teaching a course on February 11th, in Geauga County. If you are interested, please contact him at angio35@aol.com. We thank Chris for his intentions to donate all proceeds from this course to the Buckeye Firearms Association.

Click read more to learn more about the class.

Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair Ken Hanson was on hand at the Statehouse Monday as current Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jim Petro announced that state Sen. Joy Padgett, of Coshocton, will be his Republican running mate for governor.

The announcement was made in the Capitol atrium to a crowd of about 100 people, including numerous senators and representatives who were on hand to show their support. Both Petro and Padgett made brief, prepared statements then took questions from the media for approximately 15 minutes.

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

Late last year, a spokesman for Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett announced that the party would conduct a poll before the Feb. 16 candidate filing deadline in hopes of persuading at least one among the three statewide officer-holders seeking the Republican nomination for governor to seek another office.

It became obvious last week that the results of that poll were made known to the candidates, and that Bennett had achieved his goal, when (to the delight of Ohio gun owners) Betty Montgomery quit the race for governor and entered the race for Attorney General against Buckeye Firearms Association-endorsed candidate Tim Grendell.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Attorney General Jim Petro, now the two GOP front-runners, are now left to put their own spin on the polling data, and judging by press releases from each campaign, both saw things they liked...

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Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to announce the introduction of a new feature at Buckeyefirearms.org.

Beginning with this article, registered users of this website will be able to contribute their own thoughts on the news of the day.

After reading a story, registered users may post comments by clicking on the "Post a Comment" button located at the bottom of each story.

To register for a free user name, click here, and get busy sharing your thoughts on some of the provocative and most up-to-the-minute firearms-related news in the Buckeye state.

By Chad D. Baus

For political junkies, the 2006 Ohio Governor's race has been providing fix after fix for well over a year now.

Among Republicans, battles between Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Attorney General Jim Petro, and Auditor of State Betty Montgomery have been a microcosm of the larger power struggle in the Grand Old Party of late between conservatives and moderates. Among Democrats, a similar struggle has broiled, with liberals like Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman and state Sen. Eric Fingerhut squaring off against front-runner Ted Strickland, who is more moderate.

Events from the past two weeks in both parties have shaken things up considerably in terms of the May 2 primary, and further shakeup can be expected in the days leading up to the Feb. 16 filing deadline.

On January 16, Republican Jim Petro's running mate Phil Heimlich, who had been selected to shore up Petro's bonafides as a conservative, left the ticket to run for reelection as a county commissioner in Cincinnati. Petro has yet to name replacement.

Nine days later, on January 25, pro-choice and anti-gun "Republican" Betty Montgomery announced she was quitting the governor's race and would instead run for Attorney General.

Conservative Republican Ken Blackwell, who for the past year has consistently polled as the GOP's front-runner, has also not yet named a running mate. And before anyone convinces themselves that running mates don't matter, consider what Democrat Ted Strickland's naming of a running mate has done to the hearts of Democrat gun owners...

House Bill 347 will have another hearing next week. The bill has been added to the House Committee on Criminal Justice's agenda for January 31 at 2:30 p.m. in Statehouse Hearing Room 121.

The purpose for Tuesday's hearing is so that the committee may hear testimony on HB347 from opponents of the legislation. Buckeye Firearms Association will be on hand, but will not testify.

Filling hearing rooms as this legislation moves forward will make a serious statement of support. Your presence at this meeting is beneficial to the cause. Please consider making the trip to Columbus to be a visible show of support for HB347 and its sponsor, Rep. Aslanides.

For more information on HB347, see: Buckeye Firearms Association Endorses HB347, Sweeping Firearms Law Reform Bill
.