Columbus: Vote anti-gun Coleman out of office on Nov. 8

by Linda Walker

Voters in Columbus will have the opportunity to kick anti-gun Mayor Michael Coleman to the curb on Nov. 8. Mayor Coleman has consistently worked against the Second Amendment and the Constitution during his long term as mayor.

In 2005, Coleman and his city council enacted the unenforceable assault weapons ban. The National Rifle Association had planned to bring the NRA's Annual Meetings to Columbus in 2007. However, upon the passage of this bad law, Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, came to Columbus and pulled the event from the city, which would have drawn in excess of 65,000 people and likely would have poured upwards of $25 million dollars into the Ohio economy. Phoenix, AZ was the beneficiary of that poor error in judgement by Michael Coleman!

Coleman and his council cronies drove the Ohio Gun Collectors Association out of town several years ago with unreasonable demands he put upon the association and its vendors. Again, he drove millions of dollars of revenue out of the city.

Mayor Coleman is the Ohio chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). This is an anti-gun Bloomberg group that seeks to ban law-abiding citizens across our great nation from legally owning firearms.

Coleman, like other anti-gunners, exploits every tragedy to pursue more restrictions for gun owners, just as some did after the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gibby Giffords.

Columbus citizens who support the Second Amendment and are fed up with Coleman's agenda can send a clear message on Nov. 8 by voting for Earl Smith to lead the city. Earl is a retired Columbus police officer and served as the department spokesman for many years during his 33 year tenure as an officer.

While Buckeye Firearms Association has not endorsed Smith, he qualifies as a B- candidate on our rating scale. Coleman, of course, is a solid F. He is openly hostile toward our rights and has aggressively worked to restrict our rights. However, we believe we could work with Earl Smith in his capacity as Columbus mayor.

Smith is a fellow gun owner and NRA member, and he supports much of the concealed carry law that Buckeye Firearms Association has worked on over the past several years.

Smith has said he would help encourage the National Rifle Association to bring the NRA Annual Meetings back to Columbus. He also believes that gun control affects only the law-abiding citizen and that violence in Columbus is the result of criminals, illegal drugs, and gangs, not guns. He says he will address the real problem and not put more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.

To donate to Earl Smith's campaign or volunteer to distribute literature, go to his website www.EarlforMayor.com.

The voters of Columbus can change history of this great city on Nov. 8 by kicking Michael Coleman to the proverbial curb and by electing Earl Smith as their next leader.

Linda Walker is the Buckeye Firearms Association Central Ohio Chair, a Member of the National Rifle Association's Board of Directors, an NRA certified instructor, NRA-EVC for the Ohio 12th Congressional District, chairman of the Licking County Friends of the NRA and the 2009 recipient of the NRA's "Sybil Ludington Women's Freedom Award."