By Publius

Mayor Bloomberg's "investigation" of gun shows in Ohio presents an opportunity for gun owners in the Buckeye state - an opportunity that we must seize if gun shows are to survive.

The choice facing us is simple: Change how gun shows operate, or gun shows will be legislated/litigated out of business. The loss of gun shows would be a devastating blow to the First Amendment rights of gun owners. Yes, I said First Amendment.

Let's get something out of the way upfront so we can concentrate on our issues: Mayor Bloomberg is exceeding his authority, is wrong, has no business doing investigations in Ohio, his investigators are breaking the law, he released heavily edited versions of his tapes, all the conduct he complains of is already illegal and prohibited etc etc etc.

None of that matters. Now, can we concentrate on our own problems and administer some tough love?

Taken from the most recent "Page Nine", Alan Korwin's "The Uninvited Ombudsman Report"

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1- 1,400 Arrest 46

The lamestream media told you:

Thomas Watkins, reporting for the AP, writes: "More than a thousand law-enforcement officers descended Tuesday on the homes of key members of a notorious street gang suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy and murdering rivals while defying authorities for decades. A federal indictment identified 88 suspects and detailed criminal activity spanning more than a decade... 1,100 police officers worked with nearly 300 federal agents to arrest 46 gang members (39 were already in custody)... Among them was Tammy Armstrong, a corrections officer accused of helping incarcerated gang members... gang members strafed L.A. police in Feb., 2008... off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante was shot dead in Aug., 2008 in front of his parents' home northeast of downtown." http://tinyurl.com/mw2k9a

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

By Gerard Valentino

Columbuslocalnews.com is reporting that Ohio's most rabidly anti-gun organization has begun staging prayer vigils to remind the community of the ravages of homicides and violent crime.

The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, led by Toby Hoover, has a long and sorry history of dancing in the blood of murder victims. Their tactic of staging prayer vigils reaches a new low, as it exploits the family members and friends of homicide victims for political gain. Trotting out the victim's family after a homicide is the lowest form of political propaganda, and preys on people when they are at their most vulnerable.

If Toby's group waited until the family left for the funeral and robbed the house, it would show the same lack of basic decency as displaying grieving widows and orphans as though they are part of a circus freak show.

Moral outrage over such a complete lack of human dignity is warranted. And our disgust shouldn't only be directed at Toby Hoover's unthinkable act, because her propaganda is useless without the willing participation of the establishment news media.

On Election Day 2009, Ohio voters will be asked to decide on Issue 2, a ballot initiative which would amend the Ohio constitution to create a livestock board appointed by the governor that would set standards for livestock care in Ohio.

While Buckeye Firearms Association determined that this issue falls too far outside of our mission, others including the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, are supporting this issue out of the belief that Ohio farmers need protection from the number one anti-hunting group in the nation, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). On the other hand, some believe this board is a state power grab that could restrict the rights of Ohio farmers.

The Ohio Liberty Council, of which Buckeye Firearms Association is a member organization, believes it is important for voters to be as informed as possible about ballot issues before voting to amend the Ohio Constitution. As such, the Council, along with the Ohio Freedom Alliance, The Central Ohio 912 Project, and OSU Young Americans for Liberty, co-sponsored a town hall forum at the main campus of The Ohio State University on Monday, October 19.

By Chad D. Baus

Despite these prominently posted "no-guns" signs, which are required by law to be posted in every Class D liquor permit location in the state of Ohio, it's getting increasingly hard to keep track of all the shootings occuring across the Buckeye state in places that serve alcohol.

By Jeff Knox

At the recent Gun Rights Policy Conference in Saint Louis, Missouri I had the privilege of introducing a couple of resolutions that were adopted by the assembly. The first dealt with the recent attempt by Customs and Border Protection to classify certain "easy open" pocket knives as "switchblades," and subsequent efforts to amend the Federal Switchblade Act. My resolution suggested that since the problem of switchblades and switchblade crime was primarily a figment of Hollywood and Broadway, and since regulating tools is never a reasonable response to bad behavior, that the rights community should support the outright repeal of the Federal Switchblade Act and any other such laws which are intended to modify behavior by restricting tools. This resolution passed resoundingly with no real discussion.

My second resolution was a bit more controversial. In it I suggested that, while training in the safe, legal, and appropriate use of firearms is strongly supported and should continue to be encouraged, government mandated training is anathema to liberty. I pointed out that there is no statistical evidence that firearms accidents, mistakes, or abuses are any more likely in states requiring little or no training than they are in states with extensive training requirements. The resolution put on the record the GRPC delegates' opposition to government-mandated firearms training and their support for rolling back existing requirements where feasible.

I was careful and specific with the language of the resolution because there is much more to the training controversy than might be immediately evident.

Columbus' 10TV.com is reporting that a 75 year-old man who was walking his dog used a firearm in self-defense when an armed teen tried to rob him.

By Chad D. Baus

On October 20, 2009, Buckeye Firearms Chairman Jim Irvine appeared as a guest on WCPN's (Clevland Public Radio) "The Sound of Ideas," hosted by Dan Moulthrop.

In a typical display of your tax dollars at work on the "impartial" forum of National Public Radio (NPR), the opening half of the show was given solely to one of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's cronies - John Feinblatt, the city's Criminal Justice Coordinator.

The first words out of Feinblatt's mouth during that segment were provably false:

By Jeff Knox

The Firearms Coalition is a single-issue organization and GunVoters are a single-issue group, but, while that single issue is generally accepted as being the Second Amendment, the issue is actually the Constitution as a whole. The Second Amendment stands as a bulwark around the Constitution and "gun groups" in defending the Second Amendment are in fact defenders of the Constitution.

Every government official, from the people who take away your water bottle at the airport, to the members of Congress, to the President of the United States, swears an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and to bear true faith and allegiance to it. This being the case, how is it possible that a proposal to require a statement of constitutional authority in all proposed legislation languish for more than 14 years in Congress – through Democrat control and through Republican control – without ever getting out of committee?

As a part of our focus on general firearms issues, this political action committee continues to direct our attention to a variety of local races in the state of Ohio for off-year elections.

This year, there are a few contests which pique the interest of Buckeye Firearms Association, some because they are between pro-gun candidates and out-and-out liberal anti-gunners, and others because we wish to support pro-gun candidates in positions that could one day lead them to the Statehouse or Governor's mansion.

Click here to access the Buckeye Firearms Association 2009 endorsements.