Decision regrettable but not unexpected

Buckeye Firearms Association announced today that they regret the Ohio
Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in the Cincinnati vs. Baskin case,
upholding that city’s assault weapon ban. However, the decision was not
unexpected and the preemption language in H.B. 347 addresses every one
of the Court’s criteria as set forth in the Baskin opinion. The reason
the preemption language was changed between the “dash 1” version and the
“dash 2” version that ended up passing was in anticipation of this decision.

“There was hope that the ‘conflict by implication’ analysis the Court
made in the predatory lending cases would allow the Baskin case to
succeed, but we always recognized a weakness with the case was that the
court was faced with competing levels of prohibitions,” said Ken Hanson
Esq., Legislative Chair of Buckeye Firearms Association. “The
preemption language in H.B. 347 was changed to address this problem by
making an affirmative grant of the right, meaning the Court’s analysis
has already been accommodated. The Baskin decision has no impact on
H.B. 347 and, in fact, makes the road map clearer for post-H.B. 347
litigation with municipalities.”

For further information:
OSC Opinion Summary

Associated Press

Cincinnati Enquirer

Columbus Dispatch

By Ken Hanson

The vote totals from November are not even official in all races yet and a few Ohio Democrats are already giving gun owners reason to question their commitment to firearm rights.

This past November, Democrats took control of statewide offices due, in part, to finally running pro-gun candidates. In fact, the two statewide races considered upsets, Attorney General and State Auditor, were races in which a pro-gun/anti-gun choice was presented, and the underdog pro-gun candidate won. Unfortunately, the veto override vote on HB347 has begun to raise the question of whether Ohio's Democrats were only pulling a Taft - talking a pro-gun game but not being there when the votes were needed.

Heading the Democratic party in Ohio and at the top of the list of disappointments is Chris Redfern. Chris Redfern voted for HB347 when originally considered by the House and when considered by the House on concurrence (where there were comfortable majorities to hide within). However, when it came down to overriding the veto of the opposing party's Governor, his vote vanished.

By Chad D. Baus

Since April 2005, this political action committee has been documenting legislative attempts to remove Bob Taft's ridiculous media access loophole, which calls concealed handgun license records private but gives journalists access to the private, personal information of license-holders.

The first attempt involved Rep. Bill Seitz, who tabled a proposal to modify House Bill 9, the media and Taft-backed public records reform bill, after Taft vowed a veto. Later that year, another attempt to close the media access loophole came when Rep. Jim Aslanides introduced HB347. The provision was removed from HB347 in March 2006, when Taft again vowed to veto the bill over that provision, and finally inserted into HB9 via a floor amendment introduced by Rep. Tom Brinkman. The bill passed 93-1 and was sent to the Senate, which has taken the bill up under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Civil Justice, chaired by Sen. David Goodman.

On Wednesday, December 6, a substitute bill was introduced in the committee, and the provision dealing with media access has been altered significantly.

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Buckeye Firearm Association's web site is seeing an amazing growth in visitors and new articles are being posted several times a week.

This week's "Friday Flashback" is....

Making a difference in STATE politics

By Jim Irvine

When asked who their State Senator is, a lot of people reply with, “Mike DeWine” or “George Voinovich.” These are Ohio’s two US Senators. They work in Washington with/against President Bush. They have no more to do with running our state than Senator Kennedy (D-MA) or Senator Clinton (D-NY).

Each of us also has a Congressman, sometimes called a US Representative. They also work in Washington D.C. and have no direct involvement in Ohio legislation.

While news media, especially national networks like Fox News and CNN report more on National politics, it is local politics that have the greatest effect on your day to day life (with the likely exception of the Federal Tax Code.)

Ohio has its own government that mirrors the federal government in many ways. We have an Ohio House, Ohio Senate, and a Governor. When the Ohio legislature passes a law, it is only in effect in our state. Each state has a similar Government.

Click on 'Read More' to continue reading.