by Dean Rieck

On average, we publish two articles a day and 10 to 12 articles a week. Over the years, we have published well over 8,000 articles, covering elections, legislation, and all manner of events and information of interest to Second Amendment supporters.

It's always interesting to look back over the year to see which articles captured the most interest. So here are the top 10 news items on our site from 2012.

By Chad D. Baus

While there is far too much to cover in a single article, we reflect on some of the important events of 2012.

January:

The year begins with continued debate over whether or not Canton police officer Daniel Harless, who was caught on dash-cam video verbally assaulting and threatening to "execute" a concealed handgun licensee, deserved to be fired. Harless is terminated, and the police union immediately announces that he plans to appeal the decision.

President Obama announces that he plans to ignore parts of a spending bill that he has just signed - specifically a provision that prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to fund lobbying for gun control and the National Institute of Health studies of gun control. Later in the month, news breaks that the Obama's administration is continuing to block the importation of some 600,000 historical, collectable M1 Carbines because "they come with a magazine that can carry multiple rounds."

by Ron Borsch

INTRODUCTION AND DEFINING THE PROBLEM

It is important for us to first understand the "Rapid Mass Murder"© problem, the most common motivation of these active killers, how we can reduce the copycat effect, (http://www.lorencoleman.com/copycateffect/), as well as the number of these incidents and then look at the "Final Option" of armed intervention. We hope to at least initiate all that within this article. What qualifications do we possess to be an authority on the subject?

Our post-grad, non-profit regional police training academy has specialized in tactically training 1st responding officers and deputies since the year 2000. We have been so fortunate to have our research and statistics gain attention on the national and international law enforcement scene. Our premier "Tactical 1st Responder" course, emphasizing the "Single Officer's Lifesaving Others" 70 % successful response as a countermeasure to the active killer has attracted officers from eight different states to Bedford, Ohio. Our free law enforcement only newsletter goes out to officers in a few dozen states and several countries.

Our research protocol is limited to "Rapid Mass Murder"©, (RMM) and certain attempts at RMM. Our definition is "Within 20 minutes, four or more murdered at the same time and public place"©

The term active killer is self defining, but we further define it as "One who commits Rapid Mass Murder"©, so there is no confusion with the law-abiding recreational practice of being an active shooter. Pre-Columbine High School in 1999 back to 1975, we averaged +/- one RMM a year. Post-Columbine, we averaged +/- four a year up to 2010. In 2011, we broke the record with eight RMM in one year, and in November 2012, that record was again broken with nine. December, tied at 3rd as the most dangerous month, had our 10th RMM with half the month remaining as this is written.

Aborts, or successful stoppages of RMM only occur in slightly more than half, (+/- 51%) of RMM incidents. In two thirds of these aborts the killing is stopped by citizens, initiated by a single citizen in 8 out of 10 incidents. Remarkably, in +/- two thirds of these citizen aborts, the actors are unarmed. Barehanded against a firearm is certainly a steep and very dangerous learning curve! Law enforcement, handicapped by time, distance, delayed notification and often faulty belief systems about RMM, handle the other third. The law enforcement successes were by a "Single Officer's Lifesaving Others"© in 7 out of 10 RMM incidents.

Is it possible to improve upon the overall dismal rate of only half of RMM incidents being aborted? Certainly! We must have serious skilled people in place properly equipped to protect the children. The top three most repeated targets of the copycat active killer, (Schools, Universities and Churches combined comprise +/- two thirds of the active killer targets), are also the most commonly designated "Gun-Free" zones. Is there a logical cause and effect connection here? Yes, of course there is!

by Chad D. Baus

In the days since the latest horrific mass murder in a "no-guns" zone, the media onslaught has been relentless.

Never mind that Connecticut already has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country, including an "assault" weapons ban - the media say more such laws are what is needed. Never mind that guns were banned in the school where the attack took place - the media say more bans are what is needed.

Trespassing, breaking and entering in the school, murdering children...all are illegal, yet the incessant drumbeat heard in the media is that making something illegal will prevent it from happening.

Last Sunday, during an interview with the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, NBC's David Gregory tried to ratchet up support for a ban on standard capacity rifle magazines with a little game of "show and tell." Gregory didn't just want to talk about the "evil" magazine, he wanted to show his audience what one looks like.

And so, despite the fact that such magazines are illegal in Washington D.C., where "Meet the Press" is recorded, David Gregory did what criminals always do - he simply ignored the city's gun control law and did what he wanted.

Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman Jim Irvine was a guest on Fox News Radio's "The Alan Colmes Show" on Thursday, December 27 at 10:15 p.m.

"The Alan Colmes Show" is broadcast live and syndicated nationally by Fox News Radio. Click here to listen to the archived broadcast.

by Ann Coulter

In the wake of a monstrous crime like a madman's mass murder of defenseless women and children at the Newtown, Conn., elementary school, the nation's attention is riveted on what could have been done to prevent such a massacre.

Luckily, some years ago, two famed economists, William Landes at the University of Chicago and John Lott at Yale, conducted a massive study of multiple victim public shootings in the United States between 1977 and 1995 to see how various legal changes affected their frequency and death toll.

Landes and Lott examined many of the very policies being proposed right now in response to the Connecticut massacre: waiting periods and background checks for guns, the death penalty and increased penalties for committing a crime with a gun.

None of these policies had any effect on the frequency of, or carnage from, multiple-victim shootings. (I note that they did not look at reforming our lax mental health laws, presumably because the ACLU is working to keep dangerous nuts on the street in all 50 states.)

Only one public policy has ever been shown to reduce the death rate from such crimes: concealed-carry laws.

The effect of concealed-carry laws in deterring mass public shootings was even greater than the impact of such laws on the murder rate generally.

Someone planning to commit a single murder in a concealed-carry state only has to weigh the odds of one person being armed. But a criminal planning to commit murder in a public place has to worry that anyone in the entire area might have a gun.

You will notice that most multiple-victim shootings occur in "gun-free zones" — even within states that have concealed-carry laws: public schools, churches, Sikh temples, post offices, the movie theater where James Holmes committed mass murder, and the Portland, Ore., mall where a nut starting gunning down shoppers a few weeks ago.

Guns were banned in all these places. Mass killers may be crazy, but they're not stupid.

by Chad D. Baus

Nearly two weeks later, the nation is talking about the horrific deaths in a "gun-free" zone in Connecticut. In their arguments for the creation of more and more "no-guns" zones (more appropriately termed "victim zones"), gun rights opponents like to make claims such as college students having a "right to a gun-free" campus, and that the public has a "right to know" who has a gun in a public place.

As the discussion about the Connecticut killings goes on, here are other gun-related events happening in our state and across the country.

Quickly forgotten in the wake of the horrific attack in Connecticut is the attack at Clackamas Town Mall in Portland, Oregon. It has now been reported that a 22 year-old man licensed to carry a concealed handgun was at the mall when the attacker opened fire.

[Nick] Meli, who has a concealed carry permit, positioned himself behind a pillar.

"He was working on his rifle," said Meli. "He kept pulling the charging handle and hitting the side."

The break in gunfire allowed Meli to pull out his own gun, but he never took his eyes off the shooter.

"As I was going down to pull, I saw someone in the back of the Charlotte move, and I knew if I fired and missed, I could hit them," he said.

Meli took cover inside a nearby store. He never pulled the trigger. He stands by that decision.

"I'm not beating myself up cause I didn't shoot him," said Meli. "I know after he saw me, I think the last shot he fired was the one he used on himself."

Meanwhile, in Texas, an off-duty police officer stopped a potential mass murder in a movie theater when he shot an attacker who entered the building after firing shots in a nearby restaurant and injuring a victim in the parking lot.

Bexar County sheriff's spokesman Louis Antu says the incident started about 9:30 p.m. Sunday when the man fired shots inside a nearby restaurant. It's not clear what led to the shooting.

Antu says the man headed toward the theater and shot a male in the lot. The age and condition of the victim wasn't immediately known, but Antu says his injuries did not appear life-threatening.

The gunman entered the theater. Antu says the man fired a shot but struck no one. An off-duty sheriff's deputy working security then shot the gunman.

Two recent news reports here in Ohio, on the other hand, prove that the presence of a "no-guns" signs are impotent at stopping an armed attacker.

by Tim Inwood

Like all of you I was reeling for days over the horror of what happened in Newtown, Connecticut. The victims for the most part were so young, so innocent. There is no reason to bother to try to rationalize what this lunatic did as it was evil and insane. As a parent my deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the families suffering at what should have been a happy time of year filled with family and love.

While we were all caught up in the emotion of the moment, a more ghoulish faction was rapidly acting on their political agenda to, as Representative Jerrold Nadler put it, "exploit" the shooting to attack American gun rights. People like Nadler, Diane Feinstein, Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Menino, the entire MSNBC network, etc., disgust me in that their first reaction was to climb on top of the bodies for political gain and to lay waste to the Second Amendment of our Constitution.

We have been here before, sadly, and as before this group's first reaction is to blame the hardware. But let's consider some other things going on in our country.

by Jim Irvine

The sorrow over the killing of 27 people, including 20 elementary school children, in Newtown, Connecticut has started to change to anger. Typically, pro-gun and anti-gun forces are digging in their heels for the fight ahead. But we owe it to those children and their families to learn from the failures that allowed so many innocent people to be slaughtered.

President Obama stated that "we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.” It is time to start down that road. While we are still learning the details, let us look at what we already know.

In every event, there are things that were helpful, and others that were harmful. Let us embrace and strengthen that which was good, and reject and discard that which was not.

Merry Christmas to one and all from all of us at Buckeye Firearms Association.

Our best gift is the friendship and support given by each of you throughout the year.

As we reflect on the year's passing, we count our many blessings, remember our losses, and give thanks for those who helped us through it all.

We each need to take time to appreciate our friends and family during this special time of year. They are the reason we work so hard to make our world a better place to live.

From all of us to all of you – enjoy a great holiday season. Here's hoping Santa brings each of you your very own "official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time" (or the firearm of YOUR heart's desire).

Editorial: 'Is there no end to the irrational prejudice against Red Ryder and his peacemaker?'