March 22, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLUMBUS, OH - Sean D. Logan, Director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, announced today three key executive personnel appointments at the agency. Joining the Director’s leadership team are Deputy Directors Anthony Celebrezze, Cathryn Loucas and Anthony Trevena. All three will be on board by mid April.

Celebrezze has worked for the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance since 1999. As Director of State Services he developed and coordinated strategies and fundraising efforts to pass sportsmen’s legislation throughout the country.

He also has experience working with legislators, serving as the Administrative Director to Congressman Dennis Kucinich and as a Legislative Aide in the Ohio Senate. Celebrezze is a member and past chairman of the Ohio Environmental Council; a member of the Hilltop Sportsmen Club; and an honorary member of the Rushcreek Sportsmen Club. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corp Reserves during Desert Storm.

"We are very fortunate to have such a high-caliber professional like Anthony join our agency," Logan said. “His experience and long history in working with ODNR stakeholders will only strengthen and improve our relationships with the public."

As Deputy Director of Recreation and Resource Management, Celebrezze will oversee the divisions of Forestry, Natural Areas and Preserves, Parks and Recreation, Watercraft and Wildlife.

Click here to read the entire press release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Commentary from Buckeye Firearms Association's Larry S. Moore:
I am very glad to see Director Logan moving forward to fill the remaining
positions within ODNR. The selection of Tony Celebrezze as Deputy Director
over Forestry, DNAP, Wildlife, Park and Watercraft is an outstanding choice.

Many sportsmen will know Tony from his dedicated work with the US Sportsmen
Alliance. I've worked with Tony on a variety of issues over several years.
Tony has a thorough grasp of the issues facing sportsmen and the particular
ODNR Divisions. Tony has always had the interests of sportsmen and
conservation of natural resources at heart in all of his work. I
congratulate him on the appointment.

Buckeye Firearms Association has worked with Tony and the USSA on several issues
including the Apprentice Hunting License and co-sponsoring legislative
receptions. We look forward to continuing that support and working
relationship with Tony and all the leadership at ODNR.

By Tim Inwood

This March has been wonderful. On Wednesday the 14th
the provisions of HB347 became law. I no longer have
to wrinkle my clothes trying to comply with the silly
open carry provision in my car. That delighted me. But
days before that, the great news came that the DC
Circuit Court had finally issued a ruling in the Shelly Parker case, a ruling that turned out just as I
had hoped it would. The Court stated in a two to one
decision that the Second Amendment is indeed a
recognition of an individual right to keep and bear
arms.

Judge Silberman wrote, "[T]he phrase 'the right of the people,' when read
intratextually and in light of Supreme Court
precedent, leads us to conclude that the right in
question is individual."

The majority opinion sums up
its holding on this point as follows:

To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment
protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new
government under the Constitution and was premised on
the private use of arms for activities such as hunting
and self-defense, the latter being understood as
resistance to either private lawlessness or the
depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat
from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear
arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of
helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic
purpose was also a political expedient for the
Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in
part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The
individual right facilitated militia service by
ensuring that citizens would not be barred from
keeping the arms they would need when called forth for
militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second
Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it
protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an
individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon
his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the
militia.

As someone who lived in Washington D.C. metro area in
the 1980’s and dealt with the repercussions of that
murderous ban, I jumped for joy at the news it would
soon die. That is something 44 year old men do not do
very often.

The melt down from the leftist elites and the
anti-gun lobby has been predictable in the wake of
this ruling. Mayor Fenty of Washington D.C. vows to
enforce the ban anyways and fight the ruling no matter
what. It appears he will appeal the case. We will see.

The hysteria over at the Brady Center was palpable as
they sent out fund raising letters screaming to send
money fast to fight activist judges. "The 2-1 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the D.C. Circuit in Parker v. District of Columbia
striking down the District of Columbia's handgun law
is judicial activism at its worst." wrote Paul Helmke,
President of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. I can almost picture him foaming at the mouth as he
whacked that out on his keyboard.

Predictable comments of alarm came from the Washington
Post crying the court had “gutted” the ban and that
"will inevitably mean more people killed and wounded
as keeping guns out of the city becomes harder." As I
read that I thought, 'oh yes, the ban has been so
successful in keeping gun out of the wrong hands' and
rolled my eyes. Other liberal papers across the
nation reacted much the same. The New York Times said
that the D.C. Circuit had looked "blithely past a
longstanding Supreme Court precedent, the language of
the Constitution and the pressing needs of public
safety."

With each article I read I must confess I
was guilty of some schadenfreude, as I was enjoying
watching these liberal anti-gunners writhe in pain
like a vampire exposed to sun light. Like a glutton, I
wanted more. So as I perused the leftist commentary I
must admit I was surprised to see an article in The
New Republic by Benjamin Wittes that took a completely
different stance than the other alarmists. You see
Mr. Wittes realized something that the others had not.
The Second Amendment might actually mean what it says.
But his solution to dealing with it meaning what it
said was, to put it mildly, disturbing to me.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

Over the past several weeks, USCCA, the official magazine of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, has published several online articles written by Buckeye Firearms Association Central Ohio Chair Gerard Valentino, which have appeared in the past on this website.