By Chris Chumita

Article 1, Section 4 of the Ohio Constitution states “The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security.”

While our right to keep and bear arms is clearly stated in our state constitution, it is constantly under attack. In order to defend our rights, we have to know who is threatening them.

The following is a list of ten people who are threatening our Ohio gun rights.

Click on 'Read More' to continue reading and for links to national coverage.

Seeking to pick up the baton dropped by the ham-fisted Americans for Gun Safety, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) has arrived on the scene to become the latest front group for the anti-gun movement in America.

August 14, 2006

By Chris Cox, NRA-ILA Executive Director
NRAILA.org (republished with permission)

Tracking the recent history of the Second Amendment debate wouldn’t be complete without a look at the shifting tactics of the opposition. Our tireless efforts and resulting victories at the ballot box have made it clear that openly campaigning against the Second Amendment is a political loser. The anti-gun groups have undertaken a concerted effort to mask their long-term agenda, but only as a mark of pure, calculating political expedience.
It surprised no one when Handgun Control, Inc., decided to change its name to the decidedly vague “Brady Campaign.” But the effort to paint the anti-gun agenda with the comfortable warmth of “gun safety” rhetoric moved from tactical to strategic with the formation of Americans for Gun Safety (AGS) in July 2000. Funded solely by New York City dot-com billionaire Andrew McKelvey—previously a member of the Handgun Control, Inc., board of directors—AGS supported the same tired gun-control agenda, but portrayed itself as “bringing a new, centrist perspective to a long-polarized debate.”

In truth, it was staffed by a handful of longtime anti-gun strategists who were certainly vigorous in issuing countless press releases. But AGS never developed political credibility or power, because it had no members, no base of support and no grassroots strength. In due course, the group appeared to simply evaporate, and it now exists only as a website that hasn’t been updated in months.

The failure of AGS should have been a clear lesson to our opponents that credibility as a voice for hunters and shooters cannot be created with money alone. But blind faith is a powerful force. Much as the anti-gun crowd cannot resist the temptation to continue to push restrictions that have already been defeated; it seems destined that they would again form a phony front group, dedicated to the lofty political goal of fooling gun owners and hunters into supporting a new emperor with no clothes. Just in time for the new election cycle, the group would push the same anti-gun agenda and grant false credentials to politicians seeking to cloak themselves in the false veneer of rhetoric “supporting our rights.”

Now comes, as if on cue, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). The group’s self-description that pops up in Internet search engines is: “Countering years of polarized debate and restoring pride in America’s hunting and shooting heritage.” Gee, that polarized debate thing sounds familiar.

But let’s go through the exercise, for those with any doubt. AHSA is certainly working to create that doubt, with a debut performance at the recent convention of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire op-ed.