by Chad D. Baus

Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R) has scheduled two pieces of pro-gun legislation for a vote in the House on Wednesday afternoon, May 11.

The action comes a month after the Ohio Senate passed SB17 (Restaurant & Car Carry Rules Fix) by a 25-7 margin, and SB61 (Restoration of Rights) by a 27-5 margin, and follows weeks of intense grassroots activism by Buckeye Firearms Association, the National Rifle Association, and the Ohio Liberty Council.

Last month, Batchelder made news when he said that his 59-vote Republican caucus was unable to muster the 50 votes necessary for passage of this important pro-gun legislation. While surveys filled out by legislative candidates last year indicate there is majority support in the House, sources inside the Statehouse have said some Republican representatives have been considering going back on the promise they made to constituents in the 2010 campaign, just as Democrat Matt Lundy did when he lied on his 2010 candidate survey by promising to vote for the legislation in order to win a good grade and an endorsement, only to reverse course within weeks after being in office.

Buckeye Firearms Association has been pressing for a vote, so that, as BFA's Linda Walker recently told the Ohio News Network, "if it doesn't pass, we'll know which representative[s] will not get our support next year with endorsements."

Click here to view the action on the House floor beginning at 1:30pm on Wednesday, May 11.

Contact your Representative TODAY and say you expect a YES vote for HB45 (Restaurant Carry) and HB54 (Restoration of Rights).

CLICK HERE to go to our Action Center.

The April 2011 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 843,484 is an increase of 15.2 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 731,955 in April 2010.

For comparison, the unadjusted April 2011 NICS figure of 1,339,673 is an increase of 9.2 percent over the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,226,760 in April 2010. This marks the eleventh straight month-over-month increase in NSSF-adjusted NICS figures.

The adjusted NICS data was derived by NSSF by subtracting out all NICS purpose code permit checks used by several states such as Kentucky, Iowa and Utah for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases.

Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provides a more accurate picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions of firearms sales and transfers on new and used handguns and long guns.

by Philip Van Cleave

I have been doing a bit of research on [New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg's group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

They claim a membership of 593 mayors. Of these, 399 (over 67%!) are in only four states – New Jersey (40), New York (108), Ohio (71) and Pennsylvania(180). If you throw in California (21) and Florida (36), they account for 456 (over 76%) of their alleged membership.

There are approximately 8,291 mayors, nationally, of localities with over 30,000 citizens. Even disregarding the fact that a fair number of Bloomberg’s group are not even included in that count, due to small constituencies, this means that fewer than 7.2% of the nation's mayors agree with his goals and methods enough to allow themselves to be counted among his supporters.

The vast majority of states, 37, or 74% (see table below) could produce only 5 or fewer members, from the many hundreds of mayors in each state. In fact, they could not persuade a SINGLE mayor in 12 states to join in their conspiracy to subvert the Constitution (see table below).