By John Longenecker

Grab a cup. This one’s about 2,000 words. [Dates reported in the following quotes were erroneous and have been corrected.]

Citizens For A Safer Minnesota have a most mistaken notion of that state’s adoption of the Stand Your Ground movement. In their May 4th, 2006 press release, Citizens For A Safer Minnesota referred to the Florida birthplace of that movement and cited three incidents where people died in the commission of a crime. The thrust of the position is that the law promotes murder as the recent experience with its new legislation.

For instance: “Let me be clear: People are dead because of this law elsewhere, and the people who killed them are using the law to try to get away with murder,” said Sarah Brady. “This law encourages the most aggressive people in society to act more aggressively than is necessary. I urge the Legislature to reject this.”

Mistaken again, Mrs. Brady announces that the people of Florida are somehow identical to the criminal shooters, the hot-heads, the aggressive who shouldn’t even be in possession of any weapon, madam. The acts Brady cites are likely criminal in nature, and not at all likely to meet a standard of self-defense. Her angle is that the Stand Your Ground doctrine is applied as a legal defense in indictment for criminal acts. Mrs. Brady conveniently – intentionally, I believe – ignores the facts that the law does not shield individuals who are part of a crime, or an ongoing altercation or shouldn’t even have a weapon – any weapon, Mrs. Brady – to begin with. The law is much more sensible than Mrs. Brady will admit.

The Stand Your Ground Movement is making its way across America.

In that same announcement, it’s touted that In numerous states including Florida, police leaders and prosecutors have urged that the bill be defeated. “We’re concerned that it will provide a defense to someone who uses force that doesn’t necessarily have to be done,” said Willie Meggs, president of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association. “The law isn’t age specific, it’s not intent- specific,” St. Petersburg, Florida Police Chief Chuck Harmon said. “Can a sixth-grader retaliate against a bully? If you’re in a bar and you’ve been drinking, maybe you think you’ve been threatened, but what about your judgment in those cases? I just think the citizenry could misinterpret this law.”

You know, this is getting obnoxious, as if they lack critical thinking skills, but certainly have no problem with arguing skills. One is more important than the other. Except when you’re making political rhetoric, I guess.

Let me explain.

Click 'Read More' for the entire article.

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....

The uncomfortable truth about school shootings

By: Ken Hanson

In a rare moment of straighforwardness, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a staunch gun control extremist, has acknowledged that stronger gun control laws could not have prevented the horrible shooting at the Amish school in his state.

During a press conference, Rendell stated, “I believe with all my heart that we need more gun control.” But he went on to acknowledge that tougher gun control laws would not have prevented Charles Carl Roberts IV from carrying out his deadly attack, admitting, “You can make all the changes you want, but you can never stop a random act of violence by someone intent on taking his own life.”

Despite this, due to the current rash of school shootings, America is going to be inundated with lists from media talking heads and/or government taskforces/hearings (including a taskforce called by President Bush for next week), each list itemizing steps that need to be taken to protect the children. Since we are a short attention span culture, these lists will typically be advertised as “X easy steps to prevent school shootings.”

The uncomfortable reality is that we CAN NEVER prevent school/workplace shootings, and I would venture to assert that this has already been conclusively proven. Anytime there is a workplace shooting involving multiple victims, you will have a 95%+ chance that it occurred at a workplace 1.) banning all guns, even in parking lots, and 2.) with some reasonable form of onsite security. Further, with all of the school shootings in the past decade, schools across the country have taken extraordinary “soft security” measures – metal detectors, cameras, resource officers etc. Yet shootings continue to occur.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

By State Senator Steve Buehrer

Imagine it is 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night. After turning out the lights and making sure all the doors in the house are locked, you retire to your bedroom to get some sleep before having to work early the next morning. Shortly after your head hits the pillow, you begin to hear a soft tapping outside the bedroom window. Quickly, you roll over to see what’s going on, but before you can even make it around, suddenly, the window pops open and a dark figure begins to crawl inside. Immediately, all thoughts turn to the safety of your wife and your two children asleep down the hall. You remain still as the dark figure makes its way inside your home. Then, in the moonlight, you catch the outline of what appears to be a gun in the intruder’s hand. What do you do now?

Click 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

By Chad D. Baus

As if there aren't enough anti-gun candidates sparring in one of the earliest presidential campaign seasons ever, it looks like there is about to be one more.

Joining the list of pro-gun control candidates like Hillary Rodham Clinton (D), Barack Hussein Obama (D), Rudy Giuliani (R) and John McCain (R), will likely soon be anti-gun billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I).

That's right - (I), as in Independent. Democrat-turned-Republican-In-Name-Only Bloomberg has announced his withdrawal from the GOP, despite having told a group of Manhattan Republicans just last year "I couldn't be prouder to run on the Republican ticket and be a Republican."

Click 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that about 12 percent of all concealed handgun licenses issued since 2005 by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office have been to people 60 and older, and that in April of this year, 14 percent of licenses issued by the Cuyahoga Sheriff's Office were to the elderly - the highest monthly total of CHLs given to that age group since August 2004, when the law was four months old.

From the Plain Dealer:

Even at 69 years old, Russ Geis has enough vitality to bike through Stark County's remote nature trails.

He said the .380-caliber handgun on his handlebars will ensure he's doing it at 70.

Geis is among a growing number of seniors licensed to carry a concealed firearm. Because of the way the state collects such information, it's hard to determine exactly what portion of concealed-carry permit holders are 60 or older. However, some local permit data and anecdotal information indicate they have steadily packed heat since the state's concealed-carry law passed in 2004.

"You are out in a park, riding a bicycle trail and all of a sudden you're confronted by a drug addict who would kill you for $5," Geis said. "Are you going to sit there and say, Boy, I hope the police show up?'

"Having a concealed weapon today is more to my advantage than it perhaps would've been when I was 30 years old."

Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to announce that Senator Steve Buehrer's Castle Doctrine legislation, which concerns protecting crime victims and restoring the presumption of innocence to those forced to act in self-defense, has received a committee assignment.

Click here to download this important three-page bill.

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 black bear attack in Utah to bear sightings in Ohio, 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.

By Tim Inwood

It came to my attention on June 12 that Congressman William Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, had his gun collection confiscated by the authorities in the wake of being indicted on June 8th.

Jefferson was indicted for his role in a corruption scandal involving Nigerian officials. The FBI found $90,000 in marked bills hidden in his freezer during a search of his home. The indictment was expected and there has been quite a bit of talk about this case in the media for over a year. Quite frankly, without waiting for the trial, I will admit I personally think he is as guilty as sin. The indictment and loss of his personal gun
collection could not have happened to a more deserving fellow.

Jefferson has been in Congress since 1991, and has been an ardent foe of gun owners since taking office. It is rather mind boggling that he votes the way he does, yet says he is a sportsman. He told US District Judge T.S. Ellis III that he has been an avid hunter since the age of 10. His NRA rating is nearly identical to that of Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who is obsessive on gun control. Yet despite my admission that I think he is guilty, the confiscation of his guns without a conviction is something that concerns me greatly.

Click "Read More" for the entire article.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard) today blasted the organization behind a comprehensive campaign aimed at repealing current law that prohibits public release of critical data related to ongoing criminal investigations. In addition to a full page ad in USA Today last week, Internet ads and a series of television ads, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has now hired someone to drive a truck up and down busy streets in Wichita falsely claiming the so-called Tiahrt Amendment “puts police at risk.”

“I am no longer surprised with the outrageous claims made by this group,” said Tiahrt. “It is unfortunate that a few media outlets and advertising companies are actually willing to publicly disseminate this misleading and blatantly false propaganda.”

Click 'Read More' for the entire press release.

H.R. 2640, THE "NICS IMPROVEMENT ACT,"
PASSES HOUSE BY VOICE VOTE

On June 13, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2640, the "NICS Improvement Act," by a voice vote. H.R. 2640 is consistent with NRA's decades-long support for measures to prohibit firearm purchases by those who have been adjudicated by a court as mentally defective or as a danger to themselves or others. Additionally, H.R. 2640 makes needed, and long overdue, improvements to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

While the media continues to characterize this bill as a "gun-control" measure, nothing could be further from the truth. The national media either have not bothered to read and accurately assess the text of the bill, or are deliberately manipulating and "spinning" the facts in order to stir up controversy and forward their agendas.

Click 'Read More' for the entire Grassroots Alert.