One-on-one with Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted

By Larry S. Moore

Continuing the efforts by Buckeye Firearms to present the qualifications and the sportsmen backgrounds of candidates, I recently spoke with House Speaker Jon Husted.

The Speaker is a very busy and important position within state government. The party holding the majority of seats in the House elects a Representative to serve as the House presiding officer. The Speaker will serve for the two-year, or biennium, General Assembly. There are many duties associated with the position of Speaker of the House, in addition to presiding over the House sessions. The Speaker is the leader of the party caucus within the House. The chairpersons and members of House committees are appointed by the Speaker. Normally the Speaker will accept the recommendations of the minority party leadership regarding the appointment of minority party members to committees. The Speaker also serves on the Legislative Service Commission, whose job is to provide research, analysis and summaries of legislation. The Speaker will also appoint members to commissions and boards such as the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee and the State Controlling Board.

The following is our interview with Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted.

Click on 'Read More' for the interview.

Q: What outdoor activities did you enjoy growing up?

A: I grew up in Williams County. We participated in both hunting and fishing activities. All I had to do was walk across the road to hunt rabbits and deer. Growing up I only saw a few pheasants but now that area has good pheasant numbers. That shows what the hunters and conservations are helping to do with restoring habitat and species.

Lots of things have changed. My son is growing up in the suburbs. It is not as easy as walking across the road to have access. We enjoy fishing and want to do more together.

One common thread that runs through our family is an enjoyment of the outdoors. My parents now live in South Carolina. However a common bond is the hunting and fishing trips. These continue to bring our family together.

Q: What shooting sports and outdoor recreation do you enjoy?

A: My favorite shooting sport is probably trap. I get to do it once in a while. I have an eye injury so I don’t pick up the targets as quickly and that makes it more difficult. I deer hunt every year and still get to bird hunt once in a while. I really value the time deer hunting. It is great to be in the woods before sunrise. You get to see the woods and animals all around. I enjoy going to new places to deer hunt and seeing different parts of Ohio. Deer hunting is one of the few times I am able to leave the cell phone behind.

Q: Involvement with conservation organizations? (Note: Moore first met Speaker Husted several years ago at a Dayton Ducks Unlimited Banquet.)

A: I still support sportsmen organizations and conservation banquets when I can. My schedule does not permit me to attend many now. Sportsmen conservation groups such as DU and National Wild Turkey Federation are very good partners for Ohio.

Q: Let’s take a brief legislative review of the Ohio House under your leadership.

A: We’ve not only protected our Second Amendment rights, we have advanced them. The House has passed HB 347. I support preemption; we just can not have different standards across the state for gun owners. Lots of people made dire predictions when HB 12 was passed. Of course none of that happened. We did things and stood for our beliefs with concealed carry. We’ve gone about changes in a responsible way.

We also passed the Apprentice Hunting License to make it easier to get new hunters introduced to the sport. That had a broad base of support.

The Division of Wildlife budget was protected in the last budget cycle and we found some additional funding for the State Parks.

Q: What about HB 347 that is currently in the Senate? Senate President Harris says it will not move until after the elections.

A: I am confident this will get through the Senate. Senate President Bill Harris is a man of his word.

Q: A number of commercial fishermen on Lake Erie were recently found guilty of racketeering resulting from the over harvest of yellow perch. As a result Rep. Jim McGregor (R-Gahanna) has introduced legislation (HB 609) for a buyout of the commercial fishing licenses. What is your position on this issue?

A: Generally I am supportive of HB 609. I have grave concerns about the commercial fishing. We can not afford to experience this type of abuse of the resources again. We have to examine our options to accomplish this the right way and minimize the cost to Ohio taxpayers. HB 609 is one way. Another option might be to place standards into the law so that future violations will result in the permanent loss of their commercial fishing license, sort of a business death penalty approach. I can’t, right now, put a timeline on when this legislation might be heard.

Q: What about other advances to Ohio’s self-defense law, such as the Castle Doctrine and No Duty to Retreat laws plus some other corrections to the existing law?

A: We are looking at these for the future. Some legislation was introduced this session but time did not permit it to be addressed. We’ve got to focus and work through these issues one at a time. This session the focus was HB 347.

Q: Any final comments that you’d like to offer sportsmen?

A: I am a believer in the Second Amendment to bear arms and to protect ourselves. I fight for what I believe. I’ve not backed down and will stand strong on principles.

America has core principles, the rights of the individuals. These are fragile things. There are people who would take these rights from us. I fight to defend, support and advance these rights. We have to be engaged in the process of Democracy.

I encourage good grassroots support of the candidates who support these principles. I ask that we communicate the good things we have accomplished and support the people who will help us accomplish more things in the future.

Conclusion:

Ohio sportsmen and women are fortunate to have someone with the outdoor and shooting sports heritage of Speaker Husted. Buckeye Firearms Association extends thanks to the Speaker for his support and efforts on behalf of all Ohio sportsmen. We look forward to working with him as Speaker in the next Ohio General Assembly.

Outdoor writer and hunter education instructor Larry S. Moore is a long-time volunteer leader for Buckeye Firearms Association and winner of the 2005 USSA Patriot Award.

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