By Chad D. Baus

I've always been skeptical of election year conversions.

When Auditor of State Betty Montgomery phoned to ask my support for a 2006 bid to regain the office of State Attorney General (she had held the office previously), I reminded her of the day she told Buckeye Firearms Association Chair Jim Irvine that she would “never be the candidate of the NRA,”[1] and of the evening she told me that she was personally opposed to concealed carry.

She countered by saying that Ohio's concealed carry law had been so successful that she had changed her mind. Remembering Ronald Reagan's motto, “trust but verify”, I replied by saying “That's great! But gun owners are traditionally dubious about election year conversions, so what you need to do is to shout that from the mountaintops. Not only do you need to get out there on the stump and repeat what you told me, but you also need to get vocal about the improvements you believe need to be made to the law. After that, come back and we can talk again about my supporting your campaign for another term as Attorney General.”

Betty ignored my advice. And that November, she was defeated by a pro-gun Democrat whom she dwarfed in name recognition as well as with her hefty campaign treasury.[2]

Candidate Betty has frequently come to mind throughout the year-long 2008 Presidential primary season, as candidates from both major parties asked pro-Second Amendment Americans to look past their anti-gun records and give blind faith to their claims of a newfound love for gun rights.