By Chad D. Baus

A video of then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been posted at YouTube with the following caption:

On June 23, 2000 [New York City Mayor] Rudy Giuliani tried to justifiy the gun industry lawsuit to a concerned citizen.

Giuliani claims that gun manufacturers overproduce firearms. Giuliani claims that most police officers are in favor of gun control. Giuliani claims that gun control reduced New York City crime. Giuliani blames the rest of the country for having lax gun laws which let people buy guns elsewhere and bring them into the city.

Compare this to the claims currently being made on Giuliani's Presidential campaign website:

Rudy Giuliani is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

The simple fact is that the extremist gun control agenda coming out of New York City did not start with current Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and it is up to gun owners everywhere to make sure it does not end up in the White House in 2008.

Thanks to John Lott for alerting gun owners to this link via his blog.

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....

Arm The Ones That You Love

By Chris Chumita

There was a strange reaction from my family and friends when I became engaged to a beautiful and amazing woman on September 16th, 2005. They were happy for me, but they were also amazed that a woman was willing to put up with my idiosyncrasies for the rest of her life. However, what really shocked them was what I got her for our one year anniversary of dating - a handgun.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

By Tim Inwood

There has been a great deal of news coming from
Washington D.C. these days concerning firearms. The
decision in the Shelly Parker case has certainly
shaken up the political establishment, and I for one
have been delighted by it. As a political junkie I can
hardly wait to see what the courts do next. I only
pray it is the right thing. But for a town that
virtually banned all private possession of handguns in
1976, there seems to be quite a few people packing
pistols in Washington D.C. these days. Illegally, I
might add.

Yes, we are all aware of the violent crime
being committed with firearms in the District, but
until recently not much attention has been paid to the
other crimes committed with guns. Those crimes are
committed by the elite ruling class who carry firearms
for their defense. Naturally, I think they should have
the right to do that. According to the U.S. Constitution
they do have that right. It is that they have
prohibited the rest of us from exercising that right,
and their resistance to over turning it, that I view
as so infuriating. What kind of black heart must one
possess to watch such carnage in the streets and still
deny the people the ability to protect themselves? If
anyone should have the hammers of Hell come down on
them for violating the very anti-gun ordinances that
they advocate it is the erudite masters of our
government who demand for themselves what they deny to
us, the people.

You see, when Washington D.C. enacted their gun ban in
1976 they did not exempt members of Congress or their
staffs from the ban. The only handguns permitted were
those owned prior to 1976 that were registered with
the city. Also exempt were the various police agencies
in Washington, including the Washington D.C. Metro
Police, Capitol Hill Police, Federal agencies who
authorize carrying firearms and of course the US
Military. So it should be no surprise there has been
some chatter concerning the arrest of Phillip
Thompson, who is an aide to Senator Jim Webb (Democrat
of Virginia), in the aftermath of Mr. Thompson’s
arrest for carrying the Senator’s gun.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

By Ed Killoran

Earlier this month I heard about a “discussion” of Second Amendment gun rights to be held March 20 at St. John’s Church in downtown Columbus. From the church’s website:

“What is the Role of Guns in America Today?

Join us for this provocative discussion as we explore the issue of gun control versus ownership rights.” and “Come separate fact from fiction and rhetoric from reality.”

Presenting the “discussion” was Dr. Saul Cornell, Professor of History at the Ohio State University and director of the so-called Second Amendment Research Center. He has delivered invited lectures at Oxford University, Columbia University, Duke, NYU Law School, UCLA Law School, Stanford Law School, and Vanderbilt University Law School. He has also written a couple of books, the most current being, A Well Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America (For an excellent review of this book from Second Amendment scholar and attorney David Hardy, click here to download in .pdf format.)

I arranged my evening schedule to attend, suspicious of how there could be discussion with only one speaker, but hoping to hear news of the recent D.C. court ruling or other “discussion” of Second Amendment issues. However, Cornell’s opening remarks previewed the tone of the remainder of the evening, that is, a LECTURE on the need for gun control!

By John R. Lott Jr.

It is a remarkable con job.

Over the last six months, the Police Executive Research Forum, the chief executives of primarily large police departments, has gotten the media concerned that the country is threatened by a sudden upsurge in violent crime and murder. A New York Times story on March 9th started the current round of hysteria with the headline that “Violent Crime in Cities Show Sharp Surge.”

An earlier front page story in January in USA Today caused a similar ruckus.

One wonders whether the reporters ever thought of getting a critical comment for their story.

The Police Executive Research Forum report sounded the alarm: “The FBI statistics reflect the largest single year percent increase in violent crime in 14 years.”

It becomes a lot less scary when one realizes that the violent crime rate fell for 13 straight years, a total drop of 39 percent, before increasing in 2005 by less than 1 percent.

Click here to read the entire commentary at FOXNews.com.

The Toledo Blade is reporting that the Ohio Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its prior decision not to hear a challenge to the city of Toledo’s authority to prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns in its parks.

From the story:

The court refused a second time by a vote of 5-2 [Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger dissenting] to hear an appeal sought by Bruce Beatty after he was convicted of carrying a holstered and loaded 45-caliber handgun into West Toledo’s Ottawa Park in open defiance of the city ordinance.

The larger issue may have been rendered moot earlier this month when a new state law went into effect to prohibit local governments from enforcing gun laws considered stricter than federal or state law. Ohio’s concealed carry law does not include public parks among the locations where guns are prohibited.

The Supreme Court, however, may eventually have to deal with the question of whether the new law unconstitutionally restricts local governments’ home-rule authority to enact their own gun laws. The city of Cleveland recently filed a challenge to the law in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

While the impact of the Supreme Court's decision not to act was diminished by passage of HB347's statewide preemption provision, the fact is that there are still local laws on the books that are more restrictive than state law.

Click on 'Read More' for more.

On May 12, 2007 you have the opportunity to attend the Second Amendment Foundation’s (SAF) Leadership training conference in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky (just across the river from Cincinnati).

Buckeye Firearms Association leaders will be joining leaders of other grassroots organizations from Ohio and Kentucky. This event is free to participants and all costs for publications and lunch are provided compliments of the SAF.

We thank the Second Amendment Foundation for coming to our backyard to share their wisdom with us and help us become more effective activists.

Click on 'Read More' to read your invitation from Alan Gottlieb and download a registration from for this event.

March 20, 2007
Gun Week

By Dave Workman, Senior Editor

“I’m an idiot. I’m ignorant. My words obviously have come back to destroy my career.”

Thus was the observation of outdoor legend Jim Zumbo, who told Gun Week in an exclusive interview that he harbors no ill feelings toward the legions of angry gunowners whose backlash has possibly cost him his livelihood, and perhaps his reputation.

“I did it to myself,” he said. “I have nobody to blame.”

But in a candid conversation from his home in Wyoming, Zumbo said that the most important lesson he learned—and that he hopes will translate into action in defense of the Second Amendment in this country—is that “When the gun community acts and decides to take on an issue, this is proof positive they can make it work. I am proud of them.”

Stunning words from a man whose 42-year career came to a crashing halt within days of his ill-advised remarks against AR-15 rifles on an Outdoor Life Internet blog. Zumbo said his assignment was to write three of those columns each week, and on Feb. 16 when he came back from a long, grueling coyote hunt and had a spirited discussion about semi-auto rifles with the guide, he sat down and wondered, “What can I write for these guys? What the hell is controversial?”

He found out the hard way.

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 all worthy of mention.

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

From an attack on a gas station clerk to an update on the JPFO movie, 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.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Friday on the second of two self-defense shootings in that city in a matter of days.

From the story:

Jamie Buck was asleep early Friday when a sledgehammer shattered his side door’s window and a stranger burst into his rented home, demanding money or jewelry.

That was the last demand Millard Brandenburg would ever make.

Click on 'Read More' to continue the story.