2007 - What lies ahead
By Jim Irvine
With a successful election season behind us, pro-gun Governor-elect Ted Strickland about to take office and several adversaries removed from office, some might think that the hard work is done. While most states have made tremendous progress in the last 20 years, Ohio has passed very few good firearms laws. It’s time to make up for lost time, and that will require hard work.
Even though we have pro-gun leaders in the Ohio House, Ohio Senate, and Governor’s mansion, we do not expect this year to be without problems. Change in leadership always brings unexpected issues. The Republicans control the House and Senate, but lost most statewide offices. Democrats have veto power, but not the power to bring a bill to a floor vote. For the first time in a long time, Republicans and Democrats will need to work together to pass any legislation. We are fortunate to have good people in leadership positions on both sides of the isle, but it would be naive to think this transition will precede trouble free.
Buckeye Firearms Association is positioned well to help our gun bills move forward, but we will we need more help to achieve our ambitious goals for 2007.
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While there is much good firearms legislation than needs to be passed in Ohio, these are a few of the most important to address this session.
Castle Doctrine (also known as “Stand your ground” and “victim’s bill of rights”)
Katrina legislation – The Federal law passed last year is good, but does not address state issues.
CCW Improvements
Improvements for all Gun Owners
We will be working with those who volunteered on campaigns and active instructors on many other areas that need improvements.
We need to expand our network of grassroots volunteers and improve our ability work together. We have learned from our involvement in last year’s elections and will improve how and what we communicate to our volunteers. We will be working closer with gun stores, ranges and instructors. By working smarter and coordinating our efforts we can all benefit.
2007 will have what are termed “off year” elections. These include local candidates like Mayor, city council and many other local elections. Smaller elections are easier for a few people to effect, making it a great chance to have a positive influence. Electing pro-gun candidates to local positions insures more pro-gun candidates for future statewide races. As the year progresses, get to know your local candidates and let Buckeye Firearms know if you have a candidate we should consider supporting.
April 1 will be our Buckeye Blast. This event lets you meet leaders in the pro-gun movement and share your concerns and thoughts. It helps raise money that is crucial to future success. You will gain knowledge and experience that may prove valuable one day. And we’ll have a great time. We hope to see you there.
We realize that this event does not work well for everyone. We are interested in doing more events throughout the state. If you have an idea for an event, or know a location that would work well to host an event, let us know. We need to expand our reach to better serve all Ohio gun owners.
We will be working with several other State groups and the Second Amendment Foundation at this year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference. This is a great place to network with other leaders in the movement and learn about successful ideas from others.
2008 Elections:
Over the next 12 months, the political landscape will be built for the 2008 Presidential elections. While the President is certainly important and we will follow this news, Buckeye Firearms will focus on Ohio Candidates.
Nearly 40 Ohio State Representatives, including good friends like Jim Aslanides, Bob Latta, Jon Husted and Kevin DeWine are term limited and will not be able to seek re-election. We need to start working to ensure we have pro-gun candidates in each of their districts to take their place. Now is a great time to become involved in your political party or a local political club. They offer you a chance to get to know the likely candidates and explain to them the importance of Second Amendment issues.
We will continue to be a group of dedicated volunteers who will build on past success to forge future improvements to our State laws and policy. We will continue to host a great web site with informative articles. We will continue our free weekly newsletter recapping the prior week. And we will continue to listen to you about the issues you feel are most important to address.
We expect 2007 to present real challenges, but by working together, we will see that no matter how great our obstacles, our sacrifices will bring rewards that will be worthy of our efforts.
We welcome 2007 and all those who choose to be a part of a fun and interesting year.
