One step closer: Discharge petitions receive required number of signatures; Continued calls needed

For weeks, we have been asking you to contact your Representatives asking for support for SB239 and SB247. Your calls have made a difference - first, when sessions were scheduled in the House, and now, because Rep. Danny Bubp has confirmed that he witnessed 50 signatures for the discharge petitions on these bills, and that the petitions have been filed!

We now move to the final step and time is short.

While the successful petition drive increases the chances that these bills will received a floor vote, it is by no means a guarantee.

The bills could receive attention on the House floor via several methods, but it is still possible this effort could fail.

Therefore, we need to ask you to make one more round of phone calls to your state representative and to Speaker Armond Budish. Ask them to make sure these bills are brought to a vote.

Please call your State Representative and Speaker Armond Budish.

Any bills not passed before the end of session (effectively next week) will die and the entire process will have to be repeated starting next year.

We were in the same situation with some of the issues addressed in these bills two years ago, and even with strong bi-partisan support, legislators still have not finished the process after two years. To prevent another delay, possibly for another two more years, we need to pass these bills in the next few days.

From The Columbus Dispatch's coverage of the successful petition effort:

Rep. Danny Bubp says he has collected the 50 signatures needed to force a House floor vote on a controversial bill that would allow Ohio permit holders to carry concealed handguns into bars and other places that serve alcohol.

The West Union Republican, is utilizing a rare discharge petition to force a pair of bills out of a House committee and into the full House, circumventing Speaker Armond Budish's control of the matter. Both bills have already passed the Senate.

"I am honored and humbled that so many of my colleagues have joined me to support Senate bills 239 and 247," Bubp said. "Our efforts today will hopefully allow both measures an opportunity to come to the House floor for a vote to further protect our Second Amendment rights."

Bubp needed Democrats to join him in order to get to 50 votes. Without the petition, Budish, D-Beachwood, was not expected to hold a vote on the bills.

If the House clerk certifies the signatures, The Dispatch notes, the full House would vote, likely Wednesday, to extract the bills from committee. Passing the bill and sending it to the governor would require Budish to hold an additional voting session beyond Wednesday.

The article notes that Governor Ted Strickland has promised to sign the bills if they reach his desk.

It is time that you, the gun owner, take charge of your gun rights and let the Ohio House know that there must be a vote on these two bills before 1/1/2011. It is also time that you, the gun owner, let every Representative know that you will consider the failure to bring these bills to a vote as an automatic disqualifier, regardless of party, in future elections. If a candidate has not voted to bring these bills to the floor, that candidate does not deserve your support.

The time for partisan finger-pointing is long past. The time for a vote is now.

Please call your State Representative and Speaker Armond Budish.

NOTE: The following is a list of the petition signers for SB239 and SB247. Please keep in mind that just because your representative does not appear on this list doesn't necessarily mean they opposed it, as Rep. Bubp has said he stopped collecting signatures at 50. Buckeye Firearms Association will provide information on representatives who blatantly opposed our efforts in the coming days.

Representative Danny Bubp (R) submitted a discharge petition for SB247.

This motion was properly supported by the following members:

TODD SNITCHLER (R)
RICHARD ADAMS (R)
DANNY R. BUBP (R)
JAY HOTTINGER (R)
DAVE BURKE (R)
LYNN R. WACHTMANN (R)
TERRY BOOSE (R)
W. SCOTT OELSLAGER (R)
JOHN ADAMS (R)
DAVE HALL (R)
BARBARA R. SEARS (R)
TROY BALDERSON (R)
KEVIN BACON (R)
TERRY BLAIR (R)
CLIFF HITE (R)
JOSHUA O'FARRELL (D)
DAVID DANIELS (R)
KRIS JORDAN (R)
PEGGY LEHNER (R)
RON AMSTUTZ (R)
LOUIS W. BLESSING (R)
DAN DODD (D)
MATT HUFFMAN (R)
JAMES ZEHRINGER (R)
SETH MORGAN (R)
TIMOTHY DERICKSON (R)
JOSEPH W. UECKER (R)
CHERYL GROSSMAN (R)
RANDY GARDNER (R)
ROBERT HACKETT (R)
ROBERT MECKLENBORG (R)
COURTNEY COMBS (R)
JARROD MARTIN (R)
GERALD L. STEBELTON (R)
LINDA S. BOLON (D)
RON MAAG (R)
PETER STAUTBERG (R)
STEPHEN DYER (D)
LORRAINE M. FENDE (D)
DEBORAH NEWCOMB (D)
JEFF WAGNER (R)
JEFFREY MCCLAIN (R)
MATT PATTEN (D)
PETER BECK (R)
BRUCE W. GOODWIN (R)
CLYDE EVANS (R)
JOSH MANDEL (R)
MARGARET RUHL (R)
WILLIAM G. BATCHELDER (R)
BILL COLEY (R)

Said signatures were verified on this 7th day of December, 2010.

Representative Bubp also filed a discharge petition for SB239.

This motion was properly supported by the following members:

TODD SNITCHLER (R)
RICHARD ADAMS (R)
DANNY R. BUBP (R)
JAY HOTTINGER (R)
DAVE BURKE (R)
LYNN R. WACHTMANN (R)
TERRY BOOSE (R)
W. SCOTT OELSLAGER (R)
JOHN ADAMS (R)
DAVE HALL (R)
BARBARA R. SEARS (R)
TROY BALDERSON (R)
KEVIN BACON (R)
TERRY BLAIR (R)
CLIFF HITE (R)
JOSHUA O'FARRELL (D)
DAVID DANIELS (R)
KRIS JORDAN (R)
PEGGY LEHNER (R)
RON AMSTUTZ (R)
LOUIS W. BLESSING (R)
DAN DODD (D)
MATT HUFFMAN (R)
JAMES ZEHRINGER (R)
SETH MORGAN (R)
TIMOTHY DERICKSON (R)
JOSEPH W. UECKER (R)
CHERYL GROSSMAN (R)
RANDY GARDNER (R)
ROBERT HACKETT (R)
ROBERT MECKLENBORG (R)
COURTNEY COMBS (R)
JARROD MARTIN (R)
GERALD L. STEBELTON (R)
LINDA S. BOLON (D)
RON MAAG (R)
PETER STAUTBERG (R)
STEPHEN DYER (D)
LORRAINE M. FENDE (D)
DEBORAH NEWCOMB (D)
JEFF WAGNER (R)
JEFFREY MCCLAIN (R)
MATT PATTEN (D)
PETER BECK (R)
BRUCE W. GOODWIN (R)
CLYDE EVANS (R)
JOSH MANDEL (R)
MARGARET RUHL (R)
WILLIAM G. BATCHELDER (R)
BILL COLEY (R)

Said signatures were verified on this 7th day of December, 2010.