The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that State Rep. Shannon Jones, a 2008 Buckeye Firearms Association endorsee, has been selected by Senate Republicans to become newest member of the Senate, representing about 330,000 residents of Hamilton and Warren counties.

The story notes that Jones was among four candidates who applied for the 7th District seat left vacant by the June 19 death of Sen. Bob Schuler.

By Gerard Valentino

One of the crown jewels of the gun control movement was the passage of the Brady Bill during the first term of Bill Clinton's administration. The bill created the five day waiting period for handgun purchases, and was hailed as the first step in halting handgun violence in America.

Of course, prior to the Brady Bill the anti-gun groups had claimed several other key gun control laws would end gun violence as we knew. Those failures did little to dim their unprecedented optimism over what the Brady Bill would mean to America.

As it turns out, all the Brady Bill did was over regulate the handgun buying process and create hurdles for honest people, since criminals rarely go into gun shops to buy a handgun. Don't be fooled by the anti-gun rhetoric about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, they want to keep honest people from owning guns as well.

Recent ATF gun trace data shows that the Brady Bill had little effect on gun crime, and that the holy grails of the anti-gun movement are meaningless when it comes to crime fighting.