By Gerard Valentino

(This commentary has also been published at CNSNews.com)

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell has been described by some conservatives as a rising political star.

Blackwell's platform includes support for the Second Amendment right to bear arms as well as fiscal and social conservatism. But that apparently hasn't helped him, as the latest polls put him between 4 and 20 points behind the Democratic nominee Rep. Ted Strickland.

Yet, Blackwell has stayed true to his conservative base and refuses to run to the center.

Blackwell, regardless of his conservative pedigree, is tainted by the two previous GOP governors, Bob Taft and George Voinovich, who for sixteen years between them, held up legal concealed carry in Ohio.

Now as the 2006 gubernatorial race comes down to the final weeks, gun owners have a hard choice to make: trust Ken Blackwell to change the face of Ohio's liberal GOP -- or make a deal with the perceived devil and vote Democrat Ted Strickland into office.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

This week Buckeye Firearms volunteers will be making phone calls, going door to door, addressing post cards, attaching postage, helping with literature drops, placing yard signs, educating friends and neighbors about our endorsed candidates and many other campaign related tasks.

Thank you to everyone who is giving of their time.

For those who can't give time, please donate money.

To paraphrase President Bush, you are either with us, or you are against us.

Thanks to all who are truly with us. If we all act together, we will not fail.

By Ken Hanson

October 26, 2006 was the deadline to file the pre-General Election campaign finance reports in Ohio. A review of these initial reports reveals a few substantial surprises if you are a GOP office holder. Adding to what certainly will be a tumultuous shakeup of the Ohio GOP party leadership after this election is the fact that the police PACs have decided to throw their money strongly to Ohio Democrats.

For a decade or more the GOP Senate leadership and Governor have doted on law enforcement. If it can be said that Senate GOP leadership and the GOP Governor have had a cozy, accommodating relationship with law enforcement, then the disclosure of these campaign donations is the equivalent of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) leaving a voicemail breaking off the affair, and they want their class ring and letter jacket back.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

CNSNews.com is reporting that more than one hundred of the nation's mayors are breathing new life into the gun control movement.

From the story:

The "Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition," a bipartisan group of 109 mayors in 44 states, is meeting Thursday in Chicago to "share strategies in the fight against illegal guns."

According to the coalition's website, those strategies include "how to work with local law enforcement agencies and state representatives to maximize penalties for those who possess, use and traffic in illegal guns."

The discussion also will focus on information sharing and "best practices on enforcement and legislative issues."

Two more "working groups" will meet in November, first in Boston, then in Atlanta.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are leading the city-level effort to "take illegal guns off the street."

They accuse the federal government of gutting the "essential programs" needed to keep city residents safe; and they insist they "will not allow our streets to turn into war zones."

The three regional meetings, beginning with the one today in Chicago, are intended to lay the foundation for a national summit of anti-gun mayors in January. That's when the mayors plans to launch "the first-ever coordinated, national effort to convince Congress to take ideology out of law enforcement." (Endorse the gun control agenda, in other words.)

Click on 'Read More' for the entire story.

By Tim Inwood

I know I will be preaching to the choir with this article. I hope that you will share this with family members and friends who have not taken the time to evaluate why they have not gotten their concealed handgun license.

My fellow Buckeyes sometimes puzzle me. Of late we have been bombarded with stories to convince us that the nation and our state is currently awash in violent crime. We watch television footage of school shootings, hostage takings and the bloody aftermath of robberies, crimes of passion, etc. Random acts of violence are happening all around us. However, too few of us seem to be taking the logical steps to counter this "growing trend" of violent crime.

'What?', you ask, 'there is something I can do?' Of course! The logical step to fighting crime is getting your Concealed Handgun License so you can defend yourself and your family. You have to
remember when the flag goes down and the criminal or criminals are upon you, a policeman is not going to be there to "protect and serve". He will be there later to record what happened and deal with the aftermath. But you will be the one who will have to deal with the crisis of the moment. You have to ask yourself, do you wish to be unarmed or have the option and the ability to defend yourself?

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

Editor's Note Nov. 2, 2006: At the time this story was posted, the tests commonly relied upon by the OSHP showed Trooper Joshua Risner to be intoxicated and no news outlets were questioning that "fact". At the request of the OSHP, additional tests not available to the general public were performed on Risner's body, bringing into question the validity of the standard tests. We are continuing to investigate this story and will post updates when warranted.

This political action committee's concern is not and has never been with the integrity of rank and file officers, but rather with the OSHP bureaucracy who continue to lobby against any gun rights legislation benefiting citizens while simultaneously seeking to remove a provisions in the House-passed version of H.B. 347 that applies the same felony to law enforcement officers as that faced by citizens who drive drunk while armed. We would encourage those Troopers who have expressed that they do support concealed carry to get their political leadership to quit making absurd objections to common sense reforms.

By Gerard Valentino

Cincinnati's WCPO.com is reporting on two recent incidences involving cases of property owners using a gun to protect themselves during robberies.

In each case, the prosecutor is working to decide if these two property owners were justified in using force.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire story.

By Chris Chumita

There are more stories pertaining to our gun rights in Ohio then we can possibly draw attention to with individual daily commentary. But they are worthy of mention.

What follows is our review of headlines from around the state though a pro-gun rights lens.
From the sentencing of a criminal protection zone rapist to a clerk shooting back, these articles should be a part of your required reading!
Click on the "Read More..." link below for several days of headlines accompanied by short, concise pro-gun analysis.

By Chad D. Baus

As regular consumers of the mainstream media know, voting on November 7 will be but a formality. Liberals have already won the election and are busy taking their pick of Congressional office space.

While there is plenty of evidence that the conventional wisdom about a "Blue Wave" in national elections may not be all that wise, in Ohio even leading Republicans see that in Columbus, Democrats are likely to gain seats in the General Assembly.

Republican Senate President Bill Harris acknowledged to both Gongwer News Service and the Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday that the election cycle favors Democrats.

According to Gongwer, Harris acknowledged the political winds could have some effect on the legislature but said he was confident that Democrats would not be able to completely overtake the GOP's solid majorities in both chambers.

"It is certainly a tough environment," he told the Plain Dealer. "You have to work harder on getting your message out on why your incumbents are doing such a great job."

With Harris having blocked a much-needed concealed carry reform bill for most of the year, it's no doubt why he has trouble convincing gun owners that he and his Senate incumbents are "doing such a great job."

The Gongwer story indicates that Harris is going back to the same playbook his two predecessors used to placate gun owners angry about a lack of action on a supposedly plank issue for the GOP.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

By Jim Irvine

American novelist/philosopher Mark Twain once wrote, "There are lies, damned lies and statistics." Even in his day, he recognized -- especially in media reporting -- that legitimate statistics are often presented in such a way to create an impression that can be far from the whole truth.

For example, last month the FBI released preliminary data indicating an increase in 2005 violent crime. The USA Today reports there is new evidence that crime has continued to rise this year.

From the article:

A review of 55 cities' crime data from the first six months of this year indicates the overall number of homicides rose by 4.2% compared with the same period in 2005, according to the Police Executive Research Forum, a police advocacy group. In a report Thursday, the group also said robberies rose nearly 10% and that aggravated assaults were up slightly.

We have learned from past "research" by gun control advocates that sometimes data is looked at and then certain portions of the data (55 cities with the "right" trends) are presented to give a false picture of actual circumstances.

There is reason to believe this rise in crime is real, and the problems it brings may be affecting you sooner than you may expect.