On September 18, 2008 the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that R.C. 9.68 is valid, and that municipalities may not infringe on the broad statutory and constitutional right to carry firearms. Within a few days, this opinion saw application in courtrooms around the state.

Readers of this website are familiar with the story of Damon Wells, the young man in Cleveland who shot at thugs in self-defense last year, killing one. Subsequently, his house was vandalized by people mourning the thugs and his life has generally been turned upside down. Regina Brett with the Cleveland Plain Dealer did a nice series on the incident and the aftermath.

Unfortunately, the City of Cleveland is among those determined to make Damon’s life a continuing series of aggravations. After the thugs’ trial, Damon had to fight with Cleveland to obtain return of his gun. It was only through volunteer efforts of Buckeye Firearms Association that the Court eventually ordered Cleveland to return Damon’s gun. To add further insult to injury, the City of Cleveland recently charged Damon with possession of an unregistered handgun as a result of a traffic stop on a car in which he was a passenger.

You aren’t misreading. Damon, who has a CHL and who the Court ordered Cleveland to return a gun to, has been charged with possession of an unregistered handgun under Cleveland’s ordinances.

Ray Schoenke, president of fake gun group American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), received a cold reception from Ohioans during a swing through the state to campaign for former Joyce Foundation board member Barack Obama, and judging by a follow-up press release, he is still feeling the sting.

On Wednesday, September 17, Buckeye Firearms Association published a story detailing how AHSA and the AFL-CIO labor union had teamed up to try and convince rural gun owners (you know, the ones who Obama says are bitterly clinging to their guns) to prostitute the Second Amendment for a paycheck. That same day, Schoenke began a photo op tour through Ohio that would make goose hunting John Kerry proud.

According to the Lancaster Gazette, "Schoenke stopped in Clarksburg Wednesday to shoot a couple clay pigeons and talk about how the Second Amendment comes into play in the presidential campaign." While Clarksburg's Mid-State Gun Club may not have realized what Schoenke's photo op was truly all about until it was too late, word about AHSA began to spread quickly on Wednesday. Rumor is another gun club cancelled a second scheduled photo op when they learned who Schoenke really was.

Analysis: Fact-Checkers Fall Short in Criticizing NRA's Anti-Obama Ads

By John R. Lott, Jr.

Guns have become an important issue for Barack Obama's campaign. Starting around the Pennsylvania primary, Obama and his campaign surrogates began strenuously assuring gun owners that he supports gun ownership, and it appears to be paying off. A poll in August showed that John McCain only led Obama among hunters by only 14 percentage points, just about half the 27-point lead that President Bush held over John Kerry in 2004. If McCain had a similar lead, he would be ahead in most polls, particularly in many battle ground states.

This past weekend, Joe Biden campaigned in southwest Virginia calling any notion that Obama wanted to take away people's guns "malarkey."Brian Schweitzer, Montana Democratic governor, previously told reporters that Obama "Ain't ever going to take your gun away." Obama regularly makes similar statements -- at least about rifles and shotguns.

Yet, the NRA, which has given the voting records of both Obama and Biden an "F" rating, has a quite different view, and has started a $15 million ad campaign to warn people about what it regards as Obama's and Biden's records. One mailer from the NRA says, "Obama would be the most anti-gun president in American history."

Critical news stories have been run on the NRA's ads in the Washington Post, FactCheck.org, CNN, and many other places.