Anti-gun Democrats choose to offer "passive-aggressive publicity stunt" rather than solutions to real problems

by Chad D. Baus

Last week, anti-gun Democrats Mike Foley and Bob Hagan introduced House Bill 222, legislation which was immediately termed by the equally anti-gun Cleveland Plain Dealer as nothing more than a "passive-aggressive publicity stunt."

From the article:

Republicans in Ohio's General Assembly have amended the state budget to include several anti-abortion measures, including a last-minute addition that would require abortion providers to inform patients if a fetal heartbeat is detected. Their Democratic counterparts responded, as they have before, with a passive-aggressive publicity stunt.

On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after a House-Senate conference committee advanced a final version of the two-year budget, State Reps. Mike Foley and Bob Hagan introduced House Bill 222. The sponsors, from Cleveland and Youngstown, respectively, call it a "pro-life gun bill" and made clear in a news release that it should be viewed as a direct answer to the GOP's anti-abortion efforts. In a GOP-controlled Statehouse, it has absolutely no chance of becoming law.

The Foley-Hagan bill would require gun dealers to brief buyers on the types of injuries the gun might cause if fired. Sellers would have to provide buyers with copies of a mandated Health Department study on the hazards of guns.

"If House Republicans were really interested in defending life and protecting women, they would stop obsessing over abortion and focus instead on ways to cut down on gun violence," Foley said in the Democratic duo's news release.

Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, blasted the Democratic bill.

"Instead of offering common sense solutions to help low-income pregnant women, pro-choice Democrats offer mindless entertainment as if it were amateur hour at the Ohio Statehouse," Gonidakis said.

This isn't the first time Foley has made a mockery of his office. Some may recall his floor speech against House Bill 45, Ohio's restaurant carry legislation, in May 2011. Foley predicted "the Wild Wild West atmosphere" he says "could and would happen" if the bill passed just before introducing an admittedly "sarcastic" amendment). The bill passed, and while people have been legally carrying in places that serve alcohol for well over a year now, Foley's predictions have, of course, failed to come to pass.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.