By Chad D. Baus

In Colorado, an armed citizen who volunteers to provide security at her church is being hailed as a "hero" after stopping a man who went on a killing spree Sunday. From CNSNews.com:

"She probably saved over 100 lives," Brady Boyd, the pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, said on Monday. The female guard, a church member dressed in plain clothes, killed the gunman after he opened fire at the mega-church. Boyd said she "rushed toward the attacker and took him down in the hallway" as he entered the building.

In Colorado, she is a hero who "probably saved over 100 lives."

In Ohio, on the other hand, if a church member with a concealed handgun license brings their firearm to church as a means of protection against such an attack, the law calls for her to be arrested and charged with a felony of the fourth degree, and a conviction would earn her up to $5000 in fines and 18 months in prison.

By Tim Inwood

Just a little over a week after my article concerning anti-gun bias at Channel 5 in Cincinnati, another abuse of the First Amendment came to my attention. This time it was not in Ohio, but Oregon.

I had been watching the case of Shirley Katz from afar, ever since I first heard Neal Boortz talk about her on his radio show. This poor woman is a public school teacher who lives in Medford, Oregon and the tale told in the press does not quite fit the truth of what has actually happened. You see, Shirley Katz has been portrayed as a woman recently divorced who fears her ex-husband. That is the tip of the iceberg.

Shirley Katz in reality is a victim of harassment from the promoters of what I have dubbed the “Culture of Sheep”. Shirley got called into the Principal’s office one day. There waiting for her was a police officer and the principal of the school who, after lowering the blinds, proceeded to grill her about if she had a concealed carry permit, as someone had reported to the school that she had one. Since this was perfectly legal, she not concerned, and she replied “yes”. Then they demanded to know “Do you have a gun? Do you bring it to school?” She said “no”. They then threatened if she had a gun in her car they would arrest her and she would be fired.

The first 911 call was made at 1:43 p.m. Dispatchers sent out an alert two minutes later, and the first police officer arrived four minutes after that. By then, the shooting was over. - USA Today

By Ken Hanson

Dave Summers of WKYC in Cleveland has posted an interview with Lyndhurst Police Sergeant Pat Rhode, detailing police strategy to react to an “active shooter” situation. Unfortunately for the reader looking for advice on how to protect themselves from nut-job shooters in a mall, church or campus, the story regurgitates nothing but the same old tired, tried and failed advice.

The story details active shooter training the police are going through, and how local patrol officers are now receiving “SWAT-like” training. The story boasts that while it used to take the police up to 30 minutes to respond to an active shooter, it can now take only minutes. Citizens are encouraged to be aware of their environments and know “where to go in case of an emergency.” Unfortunately, the next words out of Sgt. Rhode’s mouth isn’t “and by ‘where to go’ I mean ‘go for your gun.”

EDITOR'S UPDATE: Our friend Brent Greer at The Ready Line blog has learned that the statement attributed to Ellen Wickham in the Youngstown Vindicator is a fabrication (see strike-through text below). Greer notes that not only did Ms. Wickham not insinuate those words, she never even spoke to the reporter, Mr. Mark Kovac. Her actual testimony is recorded on Greer's blog here. Developing...

Although most of Ohio's major media outlets have ignored the first two hearings on Ohio's Castle Doctrine legislation (SB184), the Youngstown Vindicator recently published a story detailing some of the testimony offered at the first proponent hearing on December 5.

From the story:

A note to crooks thinking about breaking into Ellen Wickham's home:

If you get past the locks, the lights, the alarms and the 160-pound Great Dane (its name is Henry), you can expect to be shot on sight.

"Of course, I will call 911, but I won't wait for the police to arrive," the Columbus-area woman told state lawmakers Wednesday morning. "I, along with my firearm, am my first line of defense. Crime scene investigators are great photographers, but I prefer my pictures without blood and bruises."

Wickham was one of several proponents to testify before the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee in favor of SB 184, sponsored by Republican Steve Buerher from Delta in northwestern Ohio.

By Larry S. Moore

Bob Latta has earned the endorsement of Buckeye Firearms Association for his long pro-gun and pro-sportsmen voting record in the Ohio General Assembly. Latta is currently in a special election race in the 5th Congressional District, running to complete the unexpired term of the late Rep. Paul Gillmor. The special election will be held on Tuesday December 11.

Every gun owner, hunter and sportsmen in the 5th District needs to get to the polls and support Latta in his bid for Congress.

Click ‘Read More’ for the entire story.

By Larry S. Moore

The Sandusky Register reported last week that two deer hunters were brutally attacked during the 2007 deer gun season in a Berlin Township field when a drifter stabbed them repeatedly with a knife.

First, all of us at Buckeye Firearms Association extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families of these hunters and wish for a speedy recovery. Certainly these hunters headed afield to enjoy the best of the deer hunting season and the Ohio outdoors. Unfortunately, things turned very ugly during the course of their day.

By Tim Inwood

On November 15th I was interviewed by Eric Flack of
Channel 5 news in Cincinnati. In the course of preparing for his biased news report, he asked me a tired
clichéd question:

“Wouldn’t it be worth
it if it saves one life to extend background checks to
all gun sales ?”

The question was pertaining to
forcing all gun sales to go through a Brady background
check at the gun shows nationwide. I had to roll my
eyes as the question was asked. Fact is that the Brady
Act has gotten many innocent people killed.

Click 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

By Linda Walker

Sen. Steve Buehrer's anxiously awaited Castle Doctrine bill (SB184), introduced in June, received it's second hearing on Wednesday, December 5. This hearing was for proponent testimony only.

Castle Doctrine, sometimes referred to as Stand Your Ground legislation, will protect innocent crime victims by maintaining the presumption of their innocence should they be faced with the use of deadly force. It will also protect the crime victim from further civil liability should the criminal or his/her surviving family want to file a law suit against the victim at a future date.

Castle Doctrine is a common sense self-defense Bill that has been passed in over 20 states in the past 2 years with overwhelming bipartisan support from the various states Legislatures.

This week's hearing heard four individuals verbal testimony, and several written copies of testimony were submitted to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee for their review.

Click 'Read More' for the entire report.

Ohio hunters took 103,195 white-tailed deer during the state’s popular, weeklong deer-gun season, which ran November 26 to December 2, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. In 2006, hunters killed a preliminary total of 111,672 deer during the same time period. Inclement weather on the opening and closing days of the season hampered hunters’ efforts.

Counties reporting the highest numbers of deer brought to Ohio check stations last week included Tuscarawas- 4,266, Guernsey- 3,765, Harrison- 3,389, Athens- 3,268, Licking- 3,265, Coshocton- 3,227, Washington- 3,067, Holmes- 3,026, Noble- 2,498, Jefferson- 2,493.

A total of 167,965 deer have been harvested so far this season when combining the adult and youth gun seasons, early muzzleloader season and the first six weeks of the archery season. That compares to a total of 166,534 killed last year during the same time period. Hunters took a total of 237,316 deer during all of last year’s hunting seasons.

...Hunters still have a weekend of deer-gun hunting, December 15-16, and nine weeks of archery hunting in Ohio. Archery season remains open until February 3. The statewide muzzleloader deer-hunting season will be held December 27-30.

Click here for the entire press release.

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 home invasion on campus to an UPS truck hijacked in Cleveland, 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.