Plain Dealer Right, but for all the wrong reasons

By Jim Irvine

In a Plain Dealer editorial Monday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer again uses puns to downplay the importance of firearms issues in their editorial “Playing with Guns.”

In boring fashion, they again make fun of the firearms issue, but mistakenly get more right than they intended.

From the story:

    Ted Strickland numbers gun enthusiasts among his biggest supporters. And given the Democratic nominee for governor's Appalachian roots, there's nothing surprising about that.

True! With the failure of Republican Governor Bob Taft and the Republican controlled Senate to pass much needed firearms reform, Ted Strickland is calling a spade a spade. A Democrat noting that Governor Taft is a failure. Nope – nothing surprising about that.

Again from the story:

    But when Strickland said last Monday that he would sign House Bill 347 - a bad gun bill now pending in the Ohio Senate - the "moment it hits" his desk, he needlessly put into play an issue that has long occupied too much of the legislature's time. Strickland's response reflected an over-eagerness to please gun enthusiasts.

Partly true. A bad gun bill? Well, it’s true that HB347 will not reduce training from 12 hours to something more reasonable (studies show more than 3 hours “required” training costs more innocent lives than it saves) nor will it lift bans on victims zones like public rest areas, most restaurants, churches or day care centers, nor will it change who can get a concealed carry license, where they may carry, nor define what a “loaded” firearm is. It will not even protect CHL information from media intent on harassing license holders by printing their personal information in the paper.

No bill is perfect, but HB347 does address the most pressing concerns of firearms owners. It contains statewide preemption, something almost every other state did years ago. It encourages persons who have lawfully left their firearm in their car and had a few drinks to take "safe harbor" by allowing them to lawfully surrender their firearms and get someone to drive them home. It establishes that courts who have restored person’s rights, have actually restored a persons rights, and no person may deny that person their rights because they don’t like it. True HB347 may not be the ideal gun bill, but truth be told, the House passed a good bill, and Ted Stickland is right to criticize the Ohio Senate for stalling this important legislation.

Again from the story:

    Not to be undone, Republican rival Ken Blackwell reiterated his Second Amendment credentials. A Blackwell spokesman said his candidate also supports House Bill 347, which would unnecessarily dilute the permit process for carrying a concealed weapon.

Partly true. Ken Blackwell did reiterate is support for the Second Amendment. But as far as the “unnecessarily dilute the permit process for carrying concealed weapons” I’m not sure what the author is talking about. HB347 does no such thing, but it’s a gun bill so it must be bad, because the Plain Dealer hates guns. It’s OK, because the author probably has never read the bill. I tried to ask him/her, but it’s another unsigned editorial. I can’t hold that against them, I would not sign such slop either.

From the Story:

    Senate President Bill Harris said he expects the Senate to approve the gun bill before year's end. That would be no surprise, given the gun lobby's clout in Columbus.

Partly true. President Bill Harris did express those thoughts, but “gun lobby’s clout in Columbus”? Who are we kidding? While the rest of the country, guided by FBI uniform crime reports, Centers for Disease Control accident statistics, and numerous studies on crimes and firearms has passed hundreds of bills improving firearms laws aimed at helping innocent victims prevail in violent criminal attacks, Ohio has passed one lousy concealed carry law. The “gun lobby” has not been able to get the Senate to vote on a bill that passed the Ohio House with bipartisan support and a 76-18 vote. The gun lobby needs more clout. If you want a better law, you have to give a better effort. Start by volunteering to help a good candidate this year.

The story concludes:

    But Strickland's jumping into the discourse on guns was purely political pandering. Guns are a sideshow in the race for governor - a show that distracts attention from the state's dire economic condition and its huge educational shortcomings.

False. And they were doing so good, for the Plain Dealer. Firearms issues are not political pandering. Both Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland believe strongly in your Second Amendment rights. It’s a core value. While the gun issue is genuinely important to both sides, because everyone knows these views are held by a majority of voters, they are important to both candidates on a personal level.

Just last week the news media was lamenting on the first increase in violent crime in five years. A great way to reduce crime is to allow the victims to fight back, and to win. That is what concealed carry is about. Both Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland understand that simple fact.

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