Article Archive

Pro-Gun Punditry: Wednesday's Buckeye State Roundabout

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 all worthy of mention.

What follows is our review of headlines from around the state though a pro-gun rights lens.

From a man shot while holding a baby to a clerk fighting back, these articles should be a part of your required reading!

Click "Read More..." for several days of headlines accompanied by short, concise pro-gun analysis.

HB354: More Gun Control Addressing Non-Existent Problems

Seven weeks and counting: Public information requests for Mayor Jackson's "proof" of need for Bill go unanswered

By Ken Hanson

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is attempting to bring big-city, liberal gun control to a town near you. HB354, written by Mayor Jackson’s law department, was introduced October 16, 2007 by Rep. Williams and Rep. Boyd. Proponents of this Bill scream the typical “It is for the children!” mantra while hoping no one reads it.

A reading of the Bill shows Mayor Jackson is up to his old gun-banning tricks. This Bill has nothing to do with addressing the non-existent problem of juveniles walking around with guns and everything to do with banning guns and holding gun owners liable for the criminal acts of third parties.

Let’s start by examining what this Bill allegedly does. When first announced, Mayor Jackson lamented “We need action now and we are asking for swift enactment of this legislation so that we can begin to take guns out of the hands of our children and make our community safer.”

Needless to say, we at Buckeye Firearms Association were shocked to find out that Cleveland apparently has a problem with “children” walking around with guns and the city is powerless to do anything about it. Confused, we immediately submitted the following Public Records Request:

1. Copies of the research conducted by Mayor Jackson’s staff, as referred to in the press release.

Wild turkey, pheasant & deer hunting underway in Ohio

Coshocton Tribune:
Wild turkey numbers up 7 percent

    Ohio hunters increased their wild turkey harvest by nearly 7 percent during the state's 12th annual fall gun-hunting season that opened in 37 counties on Oct. 13 and ended Oct. 28, according to preliminary figures released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

    Preliminary total showed 1,077 birds harvested this year, as opposed to last year's preliminary gun-season total of 1,010 birds.

    The top 10 counties this year were perennial leader Ashtabula (83), Guernsey (62), Trumbull (54), Coshocton (47), Columbiana and Brown (41), Jackson (40), Clermont (38) and Ashland, Gallia, and Tuscarawas (36).

    In other wildlife news, muzzleloader hunters took 273 deer during last week's early muzzleloader deer hunts.

    ...There's still time for hunters to take advantage of the fall season and a good wild turkey population. The archery-only portion of the wild turkey hunting season began Oct. 29 and will run through Nov. 25.

Toledo Blade: Young hunters take a shot at pheasants

    Nearly 140 young hunters in Wood and Seneca counties were among more than 1,000 youths statewide who received special attention during the Ohio upland game youth season over the weekend.

    They were the beneficiaries of special annual pheasant hunts by local chapters of Pheasants Forever, the nationally known habitat conservation organization.

    "Everything went fine," summed Lou Best, coordinator of the 13th annual hunt conducted for 90 young hunters by the Wood/Lucas Chapter of PF. "Most of them saw something, even in the rain," said Best, adding that the hunters averaged a pheasant apiece. The hunt was based at the Wood County Fairgrounds in Bowling Green.

    ...In related news, rabbits and pheasants will be fair game statewide come Friday for all licensed hunters, and bobwhite quail season will be open in 16 southern counties.

    In northwest Ohio, hunters should find rabbit numbers to be up somewhat from a year ago, according to Scott Butterworth, wildlife management supervisor for Ohio Wildlife District 2.

    ...For pheasants, find private plots enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, and get permission to hunt there for optimum chances for wild birds. Otherwise, know that the state will be stocking birds on select public hunting areas, including seven in northwest Ohio, on Thursday, on Nov. 9, and again on Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving. A list of stocked areas is posted online at www.ohiodnr.com.

Northern Ohio Violent Crime Consortium

By Jim Irvine

The city of Cleveland has been award a 5.9 Million Dollar Federal grant that will be used in a multi-city effort to reduce violent and gun related crime. A major aspect of the effort will be a mobile National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) linking all confiscated guns in the target area and related crimes across multiple jurisdictions and use BATF trace data to help identify illicit sources of firearms.

Click on ‘Read More’ to continue reading.

Taking back their party

Editors note: Buckeye Firearms is a non-partisan PAC focused on the sole issue of firearms rights. We are aware that most people have many issues that are important to them. The same political principles that apply to firearms, apply to other issues of importance, and the lessons apply equally to both political parties and all Ohio counties. We urge you to contact your local party and get involved. Don’t just vote for a candidate on the ballot; help decide which candidate will be on the ballot.

Wild turkey, pheasant & deer hunting underway in Ohio

Coshocton Tribune:
Wild turkey numbers up 7 percent

Ohio hunters increased their wild turkey harvest by nearly 7 percent during the state's 12th annual fall gun-hunting season that opened in 37 counties on Oct. 13 and ended Oct. 28, according to preliminary figures released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

Preliminary total showed 1,077 birds harvested this year, as opposed to last year's preliminary gun-season total of 1,010 birds.

School Shootings, Armed Teachers, And A Greatly Improved School Safety

Teachers are citizens, too, with full citizen authority and rights. Let's talk about genuine school safety against murderers.

By John Longenecker

Talking to non-gun owners as always - let's look at the question of arming teachers versus arming students versus arming staff or security. Let's look at it as how best to work for the safety of our adult and minor children at school as well as that of Teachers.

Arming adult students is the most effective for several reasons. This, of course, includes armed employees, armed parents and other visitors who have a right to be on campus.

Click "Read More" to read the entire article.

Op-Ed: Teachers Packing Heat?

By John R. Lott, Jr.

Good intentions do not necessarily make good rules. What counts is whether the laws ultimately save lives. Unfortunately, too many gun laws primarily disarm law-abiding citizens, not criminals.
Banning guns from schools seems like the obvious way to keep children safe. But a teacher, Shirley Katz, in Medford, Oregon, is proposing the exact opposite and is stirring up debate across the nation. Recently the first round of a legal battle went to the teacher, since the judge would not accept the school district's claim that her case should simply be dismissed.

Ms. Katz, who has a concealed handgun permit and regularly carries her handgun with her when not at school, wants to be able to do the same on school property because she fears either another public school shooting of the kind that have become all too familiar or an attack from her former husband. Ironically, the day before her hearing four people were wounded at a high school in Cleveland, Ohio.

While Oregon's law allows permitted concealed handguns on school property, some school districts in the state have attempted to get around the law by including a prohibition in teachers' conditions of employment. Yet, the state law seems pretty clear in forbidding any restrictions, not just some types of restrictions, by local or district governments.

The school district and other opponents point to problems that might arise from Katz carrying her gun. But we can do more than hypothesize about what might happen, since Americans actually have a lot of experience with permit holders being able to carry guns.

Click here to read the entire op-ed at Tech Central Station
Daily.

The Uninvited Ombudsman Report – No. 35

Taken from the most recent “Page Nine” Alan Korwin’s “The uninvited Ombudsman Report”

2- Gun Arrests Working

The lamestream media told you:
Mexican police officers came to a gun show in Phoenix and illegally bought guns for smuggling back to Mexico. Gun shows make it easy for criminals to obtain guns due to lax laws.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Proving again that we do have gun laws in this country, and that enforcement not additional statutes is what's needed, officials in Phoenix arrested Mexicans buying guns in Phoenix recently. The arrested alleged criminals are employed by the Mexican police dept. Any gun obtained for criminal purpose has been severely illegal for decades, though officials admit enforcement is spotty.

In other news, at least six discount airlines have sprung up in Mexico, offering one-way fares to the U.S.-Mexico border that rival the slow and uncomfortable bus fares immigrants used to rely on for sneaking into (or legally entering) the country. Locals have nicknamed the carriers Aero Migrante.

Mexican officials, who have pledged cooperation in resolving the border crisis, insist that their laws prevent them from determining if one-way ticket buyers from south and central Mexico plan to illegally slip into America. As undocumented immigrants such people would not be in the NICS background-check system, and might be able to buy guns here, even though it would be illegal.

Mexico prevents most gun possession within its borders except for authorities, the rich, and heavily armed para-military drug gangs that provide a significant portion of the nation's revenue.

Although gun-crime arrests have been seriously abused in the past by some authorities, gun-rights advocates typically support arresting armed criminals who are up to no good.

Click on 'Read More' to continue reading.

A National Decline of Hunters, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do

By Larry S. Moore

USAToday ran a story recently about the declining number of hunters in the United States ("American Hunter is a vanishing breed"). This is indeed a sad statistic that has been covered by several journals across the country.