Editor's Note: Primary Election Day is Tuesday, May 4. Please do your duty, and make plans to vote. DOWNLOAD the Buckeye Firearms Association voter guide! Print and distribute to your friends and family! Help spread the word and encourage people to vote their gun rights freedoms first!

By Jeff Knox

I propose that the "firearms fraternity" begin placing as much emphasis on voting and voter education as we do on safety and safety education.

Unintentional firearms injuries and fatalities have dropped by some 60% over the past 20 years while the number of firearms in circulation has more than doubled. These amazing results are not due to government programs, laws, or regulations. They are a result of education and an almost universal acceptance of and insistence on adherence to the basic rules of firearms safety. Gun owners not only practice firearms safety, they advocate for it and expect it from others, and they shun anyone who fails to abide by the rules. The improving firearms safety record is a stellar example of positive peer pressure. We in the firearms fraternity need to extend that success into the realm of voting.

Gun owners should see voting in every election, and having a general understanding of the candidates' positions regarding rights, as a core obligation for themselves, their friends, and their family. Those who do not vote – regardless of their excuse or rationalization – should be seen as letting down their brothers and sisters in arms. They are failing in their obligation as citizens, and empowering the enemies of liberty. In short, GunVoters need to look at gun owners who don't vote with the same incredulity that they would look at a person who recklessly waves a gun around with a finger on the trigger. Excuses like "My vote doesn't matter" should be received with the same disdain shown when someone says "Hey, it isn't loaded."

By Jim Irvine

Few offices are as important as judicial offices, and few candidates are as hard to cast informed votes about as the judicial candidates. The appeals courts are particularly important. They can overrule a lower court, but more importantly they set a precedent the lower court must follow. They can only be overruled by the Ohio Supreme Court, and most cases never reach that court.

Buckeye Firearms Association has endorsed Eugene Lucci for the 11th District Court of Appeals. We do not make a lot of judicial endorsements, but when we do, it's critical that gun owners support our endorsed candidates.

Divorce is often an ugly situation with no real "winners." Child custody and terms of a joint custody arrangement can be difficult for all involved. Making a "fair" ruling can difficult, but sometimes there is a ruling that is clearly "wrong." Imagine how it would feel if a court ruled that you "should not have any firearms on his person during the time when the minor child is with him."

This is from an actual ruling in Eggleston vs. Eggleston (CASE NO. 2006-T-0023).