2025 - BFA in the News

Note: Some websites change or deactivate stories after we link them here.

Sept. 15, 2025

The Toledo Blade - State gun-rights group challenges Sylvania's prosecution of Indiana man

A statewide gun-rights organization has taken up the cause of a former Toledo man accused of a felony firearms crime after having successfully pleaded self-defense in a murder case three years ago.

After a Lucas County sheriff’s deputy pulled him over for improper license plates June 22 in Springfield Township, Vontae Garrett, 29, of Anderson, Ind., admitted to having a loaded pistol under his seat in the car and was charged with improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. …

The Buckeye Firearms Association last week posted a summary of the matter in which it called for the improper-handling charge to be dropped.

“This is the single most outrageous prosecution our organization has witnessed in more than 20 years,” Dean Rieck, the firearms association’s executive director, said in that article. “The chilling effect for gun owners is obvious. If Mr. Garrett can be stripped of his constitutional rights on the whim of a sheriff or prosecutor, then so can any other lawful gun owner in Ohio.”

Mr. Garrett was acquitted at a murder trial almost two years ago relating to a fatal shooting outside a South Toledo bar for which he successfully argued self-defense.

Aug. 31, 2025

Spectrum - Training prepares churches to respond to violence

Editor's note: see our covere of the training — Church security teams attend BFA training in Middletown

In the wake of a deadly church shooting in Minneapolis that killed two children and injured many others, congregations in Ohio gathered recently at Quest Church in Middletown for hands-on training on how to respond to violence in houses of worship.

The session, organized by the Buckeye Firearm Association and led by former law enforcement officers and professional trainers, included drills on tactics, medical response and the use of SIRT pistols. The training weapons are equipped with lasers to simulate real firearms. Organizers said the goal was to make the exercises as realistic as possible. ...

Dean Rieck, executive director of the Buckeye Firearm Association, said many congregations are vulnerable.

“Unfortunately, churches are soft targets. A lot of people all in one place not paying attention. And something can happen and they’re simply not prepared,” Rieck said.

Rieck added that state law complicates security efforts.

“Most congregations are not prepared at all. Unfortunately, in the state of Ohio, firearms are banned from churches,” Rieck said. “The government says you can’t have firearms in churches unless the church specifically says that they are going to allow it.”

Rieck said many congregations are unprepared and that state law complicates security efforts. Under Ohio law, firearms are generally prohibited in places of worship unless the congregation decides to allow them.

May 28, 2025

Spectrum - Experts discuss whether red flag laws could have helped prevent deaths of two Ohio deputies

Political anchor Curtis Jackson sits down with the Legislative Affairs Director for the Buckeye Firearms Association, Rob Sexton, and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, to talk about whether red flag laws could have helped prevent the deaths of two Ohio deputies in as many months. — VIDEO

Feb. 13, 2025

Breitbart - Ohio Dems seek to expand instant firearm background check to 10 days

Democrat lawmakers in Ohio are seeking to expand the instant criminal background check for a firearm purchase to ten days, alongside pushing gun storage laws and other controls.

The Buckeye Firearms Association noted state Reps. Cecil Thomas (D) and Rachel Baker (D) are pushing legislation that would “prohibit a firearms dealer from transferring a firearm until at least ten days have elapsed since contacting the national instant criminal background check system.”

State Rep. Michele Grim (D) is pushing a red flag law which Buckeye Firearms Association described as being designed to “allow family members, household members, and law enforcement officers to obtain a court order that seizes a person’s firearms, based on an accusation of that person posing a danger to themselves or others.”

In the Ohio Senate, state Sens. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D) and Catherine Ingram (D) are pushing legislation that would increase penalties on those who fail to report lost or stolen guns within a certain window of time.