by Larry S. Moore

I received my annual copy of the Fraternal Order of Police fund-raising letter asking for my support. I've been ignoring these letters for close to twenty years now. I was about to unceremoniously deposit this one into File 13 when I thought maybe I should read it this time. My wife shook her head, noting that my political blood pressure doesn't need any help from the FOP.

The FOP has fought all our legislation for the rights of gun owners, concealed carry and self-defense in Ohio. Some referenced articles from 2003 and 2008 are included below. The FOP is now suggesting that House Bill 8, a placeholder bill that will eventually contain language designed to improve school safety, should instead be used to strip local school boards of the ability to authorize school employees and citizens to carry firearms on school property. It's all about making our schools totally dependent on the FOP members who, far too often, only get to the crime scene after the shooting is over. For more information on this move, see "State FOP proposes stripping ability of boards of education to arm school employees."

So I read the FOP letter to see what else they are doing for "our safety." I didn't have to read very far. The first major bullet point states (in bold), "But police officers don't do their jobs to win accolades -- we do it because everyone is a potential victim." I certainly agree with both sides of this statement. Over many pieces of legislation, I've never heard the FOP submit testimony saying we should be allowed concealed carry to protect ourselves "because everyone is a potential victim." If the FOP really believes this statement, then the FOP should be supporting concealed carry, arming school personnel and promoting self-defense throughout Ohio. Sadly they do not.

by Chris Cox

While both sides in the gun control debate regroup after our victory in the Senate earlier this week, I want to give credit where credit is due. The credit for [last] Wednesday's defeat of gun control goes to the countless gun owners and other Americans who drew a line in the sand—who sent emails and letters and made phone calls to their U.S. senators, urging them to protect private firearm transfers, semi-automatic firearms, and the magazines that millions of Americans own for self-defense.

There is no question that you shocked the enemies of liberty [last week]. Going into Wednesday's votes, they thought victory was within reach. Many in the media had pushed the idea that resistance to the gun control agenda was futile, and some of our more aggressive adversaries may have started to believe their own propaganda. I'm sure some had convinced themselves that the intensity of their anger toward gun owners was all that was necessary to assure victory.

But you and your fellow gun owners proved them wrong. As you know, the best Americans do what they have to do, not for personal praise, but because it's the right thing to do. They do what has to be done not only for themselves, but for their fellow Americans today and for generations of Americans to come. Nevertheless, on behalf of all of us at NRA headquarters, I want to thank you for answering the call.

As you know, however, we can take only measured comfort from [last] week's success. In his bitter response to the Senate's votes, President Obama said that this fight is far from over, and that's the one thing that he is right about.

by Chad D. Baus

News of the (failed) push to pass gun control legislation in the U.S. Senate, as well as the terror attack on Boston, dominated the media last week for good reason. But here in Ohio, a series of events that might otherwise have received wider news coverage went virtually unnoticed.

Saturday, April 13

Toledo Police say a homeowner shot and killed a man who was attempting to break into his home.

From WTVG (ABC Toledo):

Residents in the 4500 block of Douglas woke up to a scary scene on Saturday as police investigated the death of 24-year-old Lucas Hassen.

Police say around 1 a.m. Saturday morning a homeowner woke to the sound of his side door being kicked in. Officers say 45-year-old Bryan Loyer grabbed his gun and alerted the suspect that he was armed.

Loyer told police the suspect continued kicking in the door and that's when shots were fired.

The suspect fled and was found unresponsive two houses away in Joan Rutherford's backyard.

Saturday marked the 14-year anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, that claimed the lives of 12 students and one teacher. This weekend, half a dozen Allen County teachers gathered at Perry High School for the first-ever armed teachers and school staff training program.

From WLIO (NBC Lima):

by Chad D. Baus

Despite the fact that all the gun control laws in Connecticut (or New York or Colorado) and all the "no-guns" signs in schools and all the "security" measures being put into place to bring schools up to at least the level that Sandy Hook Elementary was when it was attacked will do nothing to stop the next attack on one of our schools, too many people who should know better are busy trying to convince themselves, and parents, that our kids are safe.

Now that America knows that two brothers from Chechnya, a region controlled by Muslims in the southern Russia, were behind the Boston Marathon bombing, and now that there are reports that the FBI is hunting a 12-strong terrorist "sleeper cell" linked to the Boston marathon bomb terrorists, it is high time that Americans learn about a terror attack that advocates for protecting our kids in schools have been talking about for some time: The Terror at Beslan.

In 2004, Chechen rebels staged an attack on a school in North Ossetia, Russia. After more than three days of rape and murder, more than 350 people died - half of them children.

Anyone who thinks this isn't already being planned to happen here is in denial.

From a review of a seminar sponsored by Buckeye Firearms Association in 2011, given by John Giduck, author of the book Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools:

by Thomas Lucente

And so it begins.

The gun grab.

Liberal politicians keep telling us they don’t want to take away our guns.

"I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away," President Barack Obama has said.

"There's no way Uncle Sam can go find out whether you have a gun," Vice President Joe Biden said.

Tell that to David Lewis, 35, of Erie County, New York.

On April 1, Lewis received a letter from the New York State Police demanding he turn in his guns or police officers would show up at his door to take them from him.

by Chad D. Baus

As I listened to the play by play coverage of the Boston bombing terrorists' rampage through the streets of the city late Thursday night and Friday morning, I knew it was only a matter of time before the media began on their quest to find out where the two Chechen terrorists got the guns they used to kill one police officer and wound another. Many journalists, I knew, would pursue this line of investigation with the hope that the answer could be used to push for more gun control.

On Sunday, Reuters published an article entitled "Boston bombing suspects did not have valid handgun licenses."

From the article:

The two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings, who police say engaged in a gun battle with officers early Friday after a frenzied manhunt, were not licensed to own guns in the towns where they lived, authorities said on Sunday.

In the confrontation with police on the streets of a Boston suburb, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were armed with handguns, at least one rifle and several explosive devices, authorities say.

But neither brother appears to have been legally entitled to own or carry firearms where they lived, a fact that may add to the national debate over current gun laws. Last week, the U.S. Senate rejected a bill to expand background checks on gun purchases, legislation that opponents argued would do nothing to stop criminals from buying guns illegally.

Indeed, the gun control laws which were put in place in Massachusetts were put into law with the promise that they would ensure that the wrong people did not have access to guns.

The article, however, notes that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in the shootout with police, would have been required to apply for a gun license with the local police department where he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But according to Cambridge Police Department spokesman Dan Riviello there is no record of him having done so.

Even if he had earlier received a gun license from somewhere outside Cambridge, that license would have to be registered with Cambridge police upon becoming a resident of the city, Riviello said. In Massachusetts, gun licenses are issued by municipal police departments.

"There is no record of him having a license to carry," Riviello told Reuters.

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that a new survey shows 79 percent of the American public approve of hunting. This marks the highest level of support for hunting since 1995, according to data compiled by Responsive Management, an independent research firm.

The nationwide scientific survey showed the public's approval of hunting rose five points in the past year, up from 74 percent in 2011. The survey, conducted in February 2013 using random digit dialing and supplemental cellular telephone sampling, was the fifth in a series of similar surveys by Responsive Management to track trends in public approval of hunting since 1995.

Support for hunting has remained generally consistent during this time--73 percent in 1995; 75 percent in 2003; 78 percent in 2006; 74 percent in 2011; and a peak of 79 percent in 2013.

by Katie Dattalo

For the past few months, I, along with Buckeye Firearms Association, been covering an issue about our local media and their love-affair with a rapist in our community who has been organizing several anti-gun protests.

Last weekend, another protest was organized by Jerome McCorry, founder of the Adam Project and Ceasefire Dayton. He's also a convicted rapist:

The fact that McCorry is a sex offender was again left out of ABC 22/45′s initial report, which was giving him free press to bring people out to support the protest. So, I Tweeted to the "reporter" Chelby Kosto asking her to add the fact that he was a rapist to the story:

by C. D. Michel

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, America’s gun control movement was momentarily reenergized. Many reasoned voices sought solutions for such events, which unimpassioned analysis showed to mainly be a mental health issue. Gun control groups also concurred on the mental health aspect, then squandered that brief moment of collaboration by tossing their dusty legislative wish list into the political maelstrom. Knowing that their more extreme measures had little or no chance of passage – such as Dianne Feinstein’s now stalled “assault weapons” ban – they include seemingly benign and popular measures including “universal” background checks.

As with assault weapons, the public self-educated on the topic, and is now rejecting the plan. And for good reasons.

There are three basic problems with universal background checks; it will have no effect, the numbers don’t prove the case, and the only way to make the scheme remotely effective is repugnant to the people. Those are three big hills to climb. That’s why few politicians seem ready to take the hike.

Most important is that criminals disobey such laws (and according to the Supreme Court in their Haynes vs. U.S. decision, criminals are not legally obligated to). In a report titled “Firearm Use by Offenders”, our own Federal Government noted that nearly 40% of all crime guns are acquired from street level dealers, who are criminals in the black market business of peddling stolen and recycled guns. Standing alone, this shows that “universal” background checks would have an incomplete effect on guns used in crimes.

The story gets worse. The same study notes that just as many crime guns were acquired by acquaintances, be they family or friends (this rather lose category also includes fellow criminals, who are equally unlikely to participate in “universal” background checks). Totaled, nearly 80% of crime guns are already outside of retail distribution channels (which are 14% of crime gun sources) and outside of transactions made by the law abiding folks who would participate in “universal” background checks at gun shows (0.7%).

When 80% of the problem is not addressed by legislation, even if the law was enforced it would be nearly useless.

Click here to read the entire article at CalGunLaws.com.