2015 - BFA in the News
Note: some websites change or deactivate stories after we link them here.
December 29, 2015
Bryan Times - CCW applications spike over the holidays
The increased demand for guns and the permits to carry them is a national trend according to Chad Baus of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
“The majority of sales and permits this month are due to the shooting in San Bernardino,” said Baus, who lives in Archbold. “Every time there’s an incident like that and the president talks about gun control we see a spike.
“He couldn’t get gun control through legislation and he’s talking about an executive order now,” Baus said. “Whether or not that can pass a court challenge remains to be seen but it gets people worked up and fearful.
“Euphemistically, he’s been termed ‘best gun salesman of the year.’ Kind of a sideways compliment but records bear it out. Background checks for guns sales and permits have increased every year of the last seven and this year it’s increased faster than the rest.”
December 20, 2015
Columbus Dispatch & Dayton Daily News - Strickland’s gun stance a departure from 2010 campaign
“We endorsed him for governor in 2010,” said Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “But since then he has kind of really fallen off into all sorts of nonsense on this issue.”
“I can’t imagine that somebody who knows what he knows (on gun laws) can take the positions he is,” Irvine said. “He is absolutely wrong and he should know he’s wrong.”
December 16, 2015
NationalMemo.com - Editor Is Fired, But Not Silenced, Over The NRA
She then focused on the Buckeye Firearms Association for its “blasted criticism” of Bowling Green State University faculty members who had written to state Rep. Tim Brown asking that he not support legislation to allow concealed carry of firearms on Ohio college campuses. Brown voted for it.
The gun group used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the list of faculty members who had written to Brown. It published their names and email addresses, singling out geology professor James Evans for special retribution by publishing his photo, too, because he called the NRA a “terrorist organization” in his email to Brown. McLaughlin described the rush of threatening emails to Evans from members of the firearms association. (Evans confirmed this in an interview Tuesday.)
After defending the faculty members, McLaughlin ended her editorial with a plea...
December 11, 2015
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Rocky Boiman Show"
Buckeye Firearms Association Board of Directors member Joe Eaton was a guest on Rocky Boiman Show.
December 10, 2015
Columbus Dispatch & Dayton Daily News - Kasich sees worth in no-fly-list gun ban
Yusuf Islam — the 1960s folk singer known as Cat Stevens who urged listeners to “ride on the peace train” — was put on the list.
So was Jim Irvine. He’s the president of the Buckeye Firearms Association, the leading gun-rights group in Ohio who is also a commercial airline pilot.
He said that for three years he was mistaken for another Jim Irvine — one who was born the same month as he. It made his job extremely difficult.
Oddly, he was permitted to fly a plane — they involve different lists. But when he wanted to ride on a plane as a passenger — as pilots often do — he ran into all sorts of trouble.
“My life sucked for three years going to work,” he said. “I was OK to sit in the cockpit but not to sit in the cabin.”
December 9, 2015
The BG News - Faculty advocating against House bill
Through a public records request from Tim Brown’s office, a pro-gun lobbying site called Buckeye Firearms Association posted the faculty’s personal information that included names and University emails.
After posting this information, BFA said, “While these people have every right to have their own opinions on this issue, they are wrong to make use of university resources in order to influence this or any other legislation.”
James Evans, a geology professor at the University, was heavily quoted in the article.
Evans said it was his professional obligation to speak out to his district representative, regardless of his position on the bill.
“What the Buckeye Firearms Association did was misrepresentation because (they) implied that I presented my views in some way connected to my employment with the University,” he said. “I did not, I was acting as a private citizen.”
The BFA attached an email from Evans speaking with Tim Brown that said, “When are you and the rest going to admit the unbelievable conflict-of-interest you have because of campaign donations from the NRA, a murderous terrorist organization that is a threat to the national security?”
December 7, 2015
WBNS (CBS Columbus) - Buying Guns Without A Background Check
One of the Board of Directors for the Buckeye Firearms Association says there are still laws to follow. “I should - and the law does require - that I make sure that person is not in any way barred from owning that gun,” said Gerard Valentino. He agrees that sort of check doesn't always happen in private sales, but he also doesn't think gun shows are how criminals get ahold of weapons.
December 7, 2015
Dayton Daily News - Local debate continues on concealed weapons
Joe Eaton, a Southwestern Ohio-based spokesman for gun rights advocacy group Buckeye Firearms Association, said that under Ohio law, by default, no work place is off limits for concealed carrying of firearms.
“Each employer can decide on their own if they want to restrict CCW (concealed carry weapons) for the public (by posting signage in a conspicuous location) per Ohio revised code, or to restrict for employees only via internal employee rules,” Eaton said in an email.
If a company restricts CCW as part of an employee agreement, that would not be a criminal matter, only an employment matter, he added.
“Anyone in the public could carry there without breaking any laws,” Eaton said. “However any employee carrying there could be facing some type of employment issue up to and including termination.”
December 3, 2015
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Eddie and Tracy Show"
Buckeye Firearms Association President Joe Eaton was a guest on "The Eddie and Tracy Show."
December 3, 2015
PhillyMag.com - Some Cops Want Guns Allowed at Eagles Games
The Buckeye Firearms Association wrote last month about a letter the National Fraternal Order of Police wrote to the NFL, urging the league to drop its blanket anti-gun rule and let off-duty cops who attend games carry their weapons into the stadium.
Philadelphia FOP president John McNesby says “we totally support the National FOP on this issue.”
December 2, 2015
Gannett Ohio - Why allow guns everywhere but the Statehouse?
But metal detectors won't stop determined criminals, said Jim Irvine, president of Buckeye Firearms Association. Lawmakers and others who work in the statehouse should be equipped to defend themselves, he added.
"Why on Earth should our legislators be hopeless victims?" Irvine asked. "I think the statehouse should be held to a higher standard."
November 30, 2015
FoxNews.com - Police union wants NFL to allow concealed carry at stadiums
“Today, I am writing on behalf of the members of the Fraternal Order of Police to urge you to rescind this policy, which weakens the safety and security of NFL players, personnel and fans,” read the Nov. 20 letter, which was reported byBuckeyeFirearms.org. “The terrorist attacks and threats of attacks from organizations like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are selecting targets based on the amount of death and injury they can inflict -- mass murder and casualty events.
“Well-attended venues and areas are being deliberately targeted by the radical killers who do not intend or expect to survive the assault," the letter continued. "Law enforcement, even when working actively with highly trained and skilled security professionals, cannot be certain that all threats will be detected and neutralized.”
November 23, 2015
Breitbart.com - Teachers carrying guns in 40 Ohio school districts
In response to parents’ concern over the safety of their children at least 40 Ohio school districts now allow teachers to have a gun in the classroom to use in defense of themselves and their students.
Teachers with concealed carry licenses can carry concealed guns in these 40 districts, after they undergo extended training.
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The Buckeye Firearms Foundation covers the cost of training for teachers attending Benner’s institute.
November 23, 2015
WNIR 100 FM (Akron) - "The 'John Coach Burner' Dennimg Show"
Buckeye Firearms Association Board of Directors member Joe Eaton was a call-in guest on the "The 'John Coach Burner' Dennimg Show."
November 23, 2015
The New Political - Bill allowing concealed carry in day cares, airports, police stations clears in Ohio House
Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Association, believes that the policies brought up in HB 48 are necessary measures but that people oppose and find issue with the provisions due to the bill being gun-related.
“It’s a gun issue,” Irvine said. “Because of that, the most simple, common sense thing becomes a controversy.”
The bill would allow permit holders to have a handgun in a school safety zone as long as the handgun is locked inside a vehicle. Under current Ohio law, a person must not leave the vehicle they are in if they are carrying a handgun in a school safety zone.
“It’s one of the laws that gets broken the most because it’s so difficult to comply with,” Irvine said. “It’s an insane law. We’ve had license holders get screwed up and not understand the rules. We’ve had cases where people saw stuff and they got concerned and the cops showed up and then prosecutors got involved.”
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“They call them ‘gun-free’ zones — that’s an inaccurate term,” Irvine said. “It’s a victim zone. It’s a place where we have told someone who wants to commit mass murder, ‘Hey, this is a good place to come commit this crime.’”
November 19, 2015
WOSU 89.7 FM - "All Sides with Ann Fisher"
Buckeye Firearms Association Board of Directors member Sean Maloney was a guest on "All Sides with Ann Fisher."
November 19, 2015
WOIO (Cleveland CBS) - OH rules for concealed carry could soon change
“These are law-abiding citizens who have passed all of Ohio's requirements. They have received necessary background checks, education and training. They shouldn't have to avoid those areas,” said Ronald Lemieux, with the Buckeye Firearm Association.
House Bill 48 would change that. It just passed 63 to 25 on Tuesday.
Lemieux, who supports the bill, says it clears up some confusing language for concealed carry holders.
The legislation would also allow concealed handguns in school safety zones, as long as they're locked in the car.
“This bill would allow parents, or other individuals who have legitimate business at schools, to secure their firearm and their vehicle, and perhaps drop off lunch or medication to their child,” Lemieux explained.
November 19, 2015
ChristianityToday.com - Ohio teachers now allowed to carry guns in class to stop violence quickly in case of active shooter situations
Joe Eaton, director of FASTERsaveslives.org, an organisation affiliated with the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, said at least 40 school districts have decided to let teachers carry guns in schools.
"The sad thing is that time in these situations is the most important factor and waiting for outside help is just not a viable solution anymore," he said.
FASTER, according to its website, stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response.
"The program offers a carefully-structured curriculum offering over 26 hours of hands-on training over a three-day class that exceeds the requirements of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy. The purpose is not to replace police and EMT, but to allow teachers, administrators, and other personnel on-site to stop school violence rapidly and render medical aid immediately," the website description read.
Teachers who trained were taught gun safety, paramedic skills and how to react to active shooter situations, reported WKRC in Cincinnati.
Teachers and administrators are trained by local cops and paramedics at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union in Adams County.
"Safety of our kids should not be a controversial issue. This is not about guns," said Jim Irvine of FASTERsaveslives.org and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation. "For nearly 60 years, not one student has died from a fire. That is due to a redundant, overlapping approach to safety."
He added, "We should be copying that same method for incidents of violence in our schools. You need something that is effective. Show us another method and we would invest in it."
Chad Baus of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation said the most important element in a situation is time.
"The single most important factor in active killer death toll is time. The longer killers have their way in so-called 'no-guns' zones, the more people die. The sooner they are stopped, the fewer people die. It is really that simple," he said.
November 18, 2015
Gannett Ohio - Gun control pushed in Ohio's Senate race
In the 2010 governor race, the NRA supported Strickland over Kasich. Strickland, who has said he supports "commonsense background checks," has since fallen out of favor with at least one pro-gun group, the Buckeye Firearms Association, which seems unlikely to support Strickland's Senate campaign.
November 17, 2015
KFMB 760AM (San Diego) - "The Brett Winterble Show"
FASTERSavesLives.org Program Director Joe Eaton was a guest on "The Brett Winterble Show." Click here to listen to the podcast.
November 17, 2015
Gannett Ohio - Sittenfeld aims at Strickland, Portman on guns – again
In the 2010 governor race, the NRA supported Strickland over Kasich. Strickland, who has said he supports "commonsense background checks," has since fallen out of favor with at least one pro-gun group, the Buckeye Firearms Association, which seems unlikely to support Strickland's Senate campaign.
November 17, 2015
Newsmax.com - Armed Ohio Teachers Trained to Cut 'Active Shooter' Killing Time
Roughly 40 school districts in Ohio allow teachers to pack concealed guns in the classroom, and more and more of them are getting trained on how to stop an "active shooter."
"Safety of our kids should not be a controversial issue. This is not about guns," Jim Irvine, of FASTERsaveslives.org and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, told Fox News.
"For nearly 60 years, not one student has died from a fire. That is due to a redundant, overlapping approach to safety. We should be copying that same method for incidents of violence in our schools. You need something that is effective. Show us another method and we would invest in it."
At the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, teachers train alongside other people seeking a concealed-carry permit, learning how to subdue a threat while students flee a classroom. Paramedic training is also taught, so that teachers can treat any wounded students or staff.
"The single most important factor in active killer death toll is time. The longer killers have their way in so-called 'no-guns' zones, the more people die. The sooner they are stopped, the fewer people die. It is really that simple," said Chad Baus, also with the Buckeye Firearms [Association].
November 17, 2015
EducationWorld.com - Teachers in Some Midwest Districts Carry Weapons, Receive Combat Training
Ohio is a state that is taking a more active stance on allowing teachers to carry weapons in the classroom, providing them with sponsored training as well.
In the FASTERsaveslives.org program, teachers who recently participated in a the program were "taught not only about gun safety and use, but were taught paramedic skills and how to react to active shooter situations, according to WKRC in Cincinnati. Teachers and administrators trained side-by-side with local cops and paramedics at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union, located in Adams County,” said Fox News.
In other words, teachers in many Ohio school districts are receiving a form of combat training to help subdue attackers in order to facilitate students being able to flee a classroom.
Supporters of the rigorous training believe its the next step to make schools a safe place in this day and age.
“'Safety of our kids should not be a controversial issue. This is not about guns,” Jim Irvine, also with FASTERsaveslives.org and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, said."
“'For nearly 60 years, not one student has died from a fire. That is due to a redundant, overlapping approach to safety,’” he said, according to the article.
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Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, told Fox News these kinds of measures are “sad” and send the wrong message to young people.
Still, FASTER says at least five other states have reached out to them with interest in receiving similar training that Ohio teachers are being exposed to.
November 17, 2015
The (UK) Daily Mail - More than 40 Ohio school districts now allow teachers to bring concealed weapons into class as thousands of staff take training in how to deal with mass shooters
More than 40 school districts in Ohio now allow teachers to bring concealed weapons into class as concerned parents demand their children be given more protection as mass shootings become more frequent.
Thousands of instructors who have gun permits have also applied for specialist training which teaches them how to take down a rampaging gunman, as well as giving students first aid.
The move towards arming teachers has gathered pace since the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, in which gunman Adam Lanza shot 20 children dead in Newtown, Connecticut, along with six adults
According to training firm Faster Saves Lives, which is run by pro-gun campaign group Buckeye Firearms Association, thousands of Ohio educators have so far applied for training in how to take down a mass killer.
Practicing alongside paramedics and law enforcement, the teachers are shown how to move and fire in a chaotic school environment filled with actors to replicate the aftermath of a school shooting.
Drills involve teaching the instructors how to move around a school building safely with a weapon drawn, including entering rooms with a gunman inside.
During one particularly intense exercise, the teacher must pick out and shoot a gunman coming out of a classroom along with a stampede of children trying to escape, according to WKRC.
But as well as learning how to take down a potential mass-shooter, school staff are also trained in emergency first aid, including how to apply a tourniquet to gunshot victims.
The training is provided free to teachers who already hold gun permits, paid for by the pro-gun campaign group, who will also be given a trauma treatment kit, including tourniquets and bandages.
If a school district participates in a wider, more involved level-three training program, which involves staff training in their own school rather than at a center, they are provided with a much more extensive medical kit at the end.
Speaking to Fox News, Chad Baus, of the Buckeye Firearms [Association], said: 'The single most important factor in active killer death toll is time.
'The longer killers have their way in so-called "no-guns" zones, the more people die. The sooner they are stopped, the fewer people die. It is really that simple.
'The importance of the decisions being made by these school districts to make sure that willing teachers and administrators have the proper tools to protect the children in their care cannot be overstated. Teachers will do anything for "their kids," including dying.'
November 16, 2015
FoxNews.com - Classroom firepower: Ohio teachers increasingly pack heat on job
Dozens of school districts in Ohio now allow teachers who have conceal-carry permits to pack heat on the job.
In several cases, boards of education have been pressed into adopting the policy by parents concerned about school shootings in the wake of the 2012 shooting at a school in Newtown, Conn. While an exact number of Buckeye State districts now allowing teachers to have guns in the classroom is not known, there are at least 40, according to Joe Eaton, director of FASTERsaveslives.org, a program affiliated with the Buckeye Firearms Foundation which sponsors training for teachers from the school districts,,
“The sad thing is that time is these situations in the most important factor,” Eaton said, “and waiting for outside help is just not a viable solution anymore.”
Teachers who recently took part in the program were taught not only about gun safety and use, but were taught paramedic skills and how to react to active shooter situations, according to WKRC in Cincinnati. Teachers and administrators trained side-by-side with local cops and paramedics at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union, located in Adams County.
The training entailed practice scenarios in which the armed protector must find and subdue the threat as students flee a classroom. In addition to the combat training, those who attended the exercise were also given combat casualty training where they learned how to treat injuries at the scene with bandages and a tourniquet.
“Safety of our kids should not be a controversial issue. This is not about guns,” Jim Irvine, also with FASTERsaveslives.org and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, said. “For nearly 60 years, not one student has died from a fire. That is due to a redundant, overlapping approach to safety.
“We should be copying that same method for incidents of violence in our schools," Irvine added. "You need something that is effective. Show us another method and we would invest in it.”
Chad Baus, of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, also stressed the importance of training educators in these skills.
“The single most important factor in active killer death toll is time,” he said in a statement to Foxnews.com. “The longer killers have their way in so-called ‘no-guns’ zones, the more people die. The sooner they are stopped, the fewer people die. It is really that simple.
“The importance of the decisions being made by these school districts to make sure that willing teachers and administrators have the proper tools to protect the children in their care cannot be overstated. Teachers will do anything for ‘their kids,’ including dying."
November 16, 2015
Cleveland.com - Ted Strickland vs. PG Sittenfeld: The debate (if they had one)
That's because for a year before running for Senate, Strickland headed the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a wing of a liberal Washington, D.C. think tank that favors gun restrictions. The Buckeye Firearms Association, a leading firearms-rights group in Ohio, notes that Strickland is no longer a Second Amendment absolutist, having "turned his back on gun rights" since leaving office.
November 14, 2014
WKRC (Cincinnati CBS) - Local experts weigh in: Should teachers and administrators be armed?
Hamilton County sheriff Jim Neil, watched Local 12’s story intently, along with Major Charlene McGuffey. The sheriff's reaction to the idea of teachers and school administrators being trained to meet force with force in their own schools was clear and immediate.
Sheriff Neil said, “I’m in support of this training. I’m in support of this program.”
Local 12’s story focused on teachers and administrators going through active shooter training in their own school. They are trained by instructors from the Tactical Defense Institute and it's paid for by the Buckeye Firearms Foundation. Everyone has a concealed carry license and has been through an intensive program.
November 13, 2015
WKRC (Cincinnati CBS) - School staff training for an active shooter
The cost of training is entirely covered by the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, a pro-gun organization.
Joe Eaton of Buckeye said, “There are teachers who are willing to die for the children we leave with them every day. When they come to us and say we need a solution, we need something that will happen. When we have experts that can provide the training to provide these solutions our foundation is obligated to make this happen for the schools.”
There's a lot more on the lesson plan than just firearms. Staff is also given combat casualty training which can be used in the event of any catastrophic event. They're encouraged to have at least a tourniquet and bandages with them at all times. Each of the students who completes the training at TDI gets a classroom trauma kit and then at the end of the much bigger, much more involved level three training the school system will be presented with a facilities trauma kit which is much more sophisticated. It’s all provided by Buckeye Firearms [Foundation].
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The training is called "FASTER." It stands for Faculty/ Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response.
November 3, 2015
Associated Press - Cleveland law requiring gun offender registry takes effect
An attorney for the pro-gun rights group Buckeye Firearms Association says it’s uncertain if the registry law would withstand a court challenge. Ken Hanson says registries in cities such as New York and Chicago have seen low rates of compliance.
October 28, 2015
NRANews.com - "Cam & Co."
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Sean Maloney was a guest on NRANews.com with NRANews.com's Cam Edwards on Cam & Company. Click here to view the segment.
October 18, 2015
AM 1660 "Information Radio Kettering"
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Larry Moore was a guest on "Information Radio," broadcast on AM 1660 from Kettering, OH.
October 14, 2015
WCPN 90.3 FM - "The Sound of Ideas"
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine was a guest on "The Sound of Ideas," discussing the state of efforts to push gun control in the wake of the mass murder in a "no-guns" campus in Oregon, with host Mike McIntyre. Click here to listen to the podcast.
October 14, 2015
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Bill Cunningham Show"
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine was a guest on The Bill Cunningham Show.
October 12, 2015
Genesis Communications Network's "Lock and Load Radio"
Buckeye Firearms Foundation President Jim Irvine was a guest on "Lock and Load," which is syndicated nationally on the Genesis Communications Network. Click here to listen to the podcast.
October 12, 2015
"Gun Freedom Radio"
FASTERSavesLives.org Program Director Joe Eaton was a guest on "Gun Freedom Radio." Click here to listen to the podcast.
October 5, 2015
AM 1420 "The Bob Frantz Authority"
FASTERSavesLives.org Program Director Joe Eaton was a guest on "The Bob Frantz Authority," broadcast on AM 1420 from Independence, OH.
October 2, 2015
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Bill Cunningham Show"
FASTERSavesLives.org Program Director Joe Eaton was a guest on The Bill Cunningham Show. Click here to listen to the podcast.
October 2, 2015
Cleveland Plain Dealer - LeBron James calls for greater gun control in wake of Cleveland child shootings
Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said the kind of gun control for which James is calling is an "abject failure." Irvine said Ohio actually lags several states in training children on the dangers of guns and how to use them. He said that was a more effective, responsible approach.
"Bottom line, when we get training, we become more responsible," Irvine said.
September 23, 2015
AM 1660 "Information Radio Kettering"
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Larry Moore was a guest on "Information Radio," broadcast on AM 1660 from Kettering, OH.
September 12, 2015
WHIZ (NBC Zanesville) - Youth shoot this weekend
Youth from all over Ohio battle the drizzle to participate in the 5th annual Youth Shoot.
Kids ages 10 through 18 were invited to learn about firearms, and take some shots of their own after training sessions on firearm safety. Chief Instructor of Buckeye Firearms Aaron Kirkingburg said that youth shoots and other firearm education is important so kids aren't in danger around guns, but rather prepared with information.
"Knowledge is the key and taking the mystery out of firearms so that children aren't curious and seeking out a firearm that is maybe kept in the closet or mommy and daddy have over or grandpa's got in the back room," said Kirkinburg. "Take that curiosity out of it. They know about firearms and how to safety handle them. "
The youth shoot began years ago when two boy scout troops came together to earn merit badges. Years of growth expand the event to nearly 100 scouts and non-scouts this year. 11 year old Aaron Dick said he's happy that his troop made it to the event today.
"I just think it's cool that since Boy Scouts, we get to do cool stuff and I never really knew that kids were allowed to shoot guns because I always just thought it was adults or people in the war so I'm just happy that I get to experience this," said Dick.The event wraps up Sunday with more shooting, lunch, and an award ceremony.
September 8, 2015
London Daily Telegraph - Which Republican presidential candidates own guns?
In 1994, when Mr Kasich was a Congressman, he voted for Bill Clinton’s ban on assault weapons. The NRA gave him an F ranking in response and endorsed his Democratic opponent in the 2010 race for governor.
“Gun owners don't ever forget things like that,” said Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “But as governor he’s signed everything he could and he’s been very good on this issue”.
September 4, 2015
Times-Recorder - Youth shoot featuring many activities Sept. 12
NASHPORT — The Buckeye Firearms Youth Shoot will be at 8 a.m. Sept. 12 at the Dillon Sportsman Center, 5200 Pleasant Valley Road, Nashport.
More than 150 youth from across the state are expected. The event includes classroom instruction, ammunition, trophies, patches and certificates through sponsorship by the Buckeye Firearms Association and Step Outside Ohio. Archery events and instruction have been added new this year.
The Single Action Shooting Society will also be doing performances and demonstrations focused on the gun slinging days of the wild west. Some youth will participate in a special cowboy competition Sunday.
Cost is $5 per youth with supervising adults and observing public free. Go to buckeyefirearms.org for more information or to register.
September 4, 2015
OutdoorLife.com - Gun Stories of the Week: Group Vows to Call 911 on Concealed and Open Carry Permit Holders
TOP STORY
Group's 'SWATting' tactic puts legal gun owners, police in crosshairs...
The Ohio-based Buckeye Firearms Association and Virginia-based Gun Owners of America were among the first groups to warn fellow gun owners of the CSGV's 'SWATting' campaign, reported Perry Chiaramonte on FoxNews.com on Sept. 1.
September 4, 2015
Townhall.com - Stay Classy: Coalition To Stop Gun Violence Resorts To Harassing Law-Abiding Gun Owners
Gun control activists are putting people at risk with their latest attempt to infringe on the rights of law-abiding Americans. In August, the Buckeye Firearms Association found that some of these groups are actually advocating citizens to call the police on people who either open or concealed carry in public.
September 3, 2015
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Skip the ads; here's what you need to know about Rob Portman, Ted Strickland and PG Sittenfeld (analysis)
When Strickland appeared in Cleveland with Hillary Clinton last week, and Clinton said the country needs more gun control, Sittenfeld's campaign went out of its way to cite the favorable National Rifle Association ratings that Strickand once had.
"As governor, Strickland was endorsed by both the Buckeye Firearms Association and the NRA, which gave him an 'A+' rating," Sittenfeld's campaign said in a news release.
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Strickland's campaign responded by saying the former governor favors universal background checks, contained in the most recent gun legislation to come before the Senate.
"Of course Ted supports commonsense background checks, as do the majority of gun owners and the majority of NRA members," said Strickland spokesman Dennis Willard.
September 2, 2015
Inquisitr.com - Open carry "swatting" making Second Amendment advocates targets by gun control group?
In a Buckeye Firearms Association blog post, the gun rights advocacy group from Ohio stated that the urging by the gun control group to call the police when encountering an American exercising his or her Second Amendment rights could provoke needless and tense confrontations with law enforcement officers.
The Buckeye Firearms Association and related Second Amendment groups have likened the tactics employed by the gun control group to “swatting,” the practice of tricking police into responding to senseless or hoax calls.
September 2, 2015
WND.com - Anti-gunners put bull's-eye on open carry permit-holders
“They are inciting their radical base to turn their own neighbors in,” Erich Pratt of Gun Owners of America told Fox News about the controversy that has developed in Ohio regarding citizens who have permits to open carry firearms.
There, Buckeye Firearms exposed a call by Stop Gun Violence encouraging members to call police when they see anyone armed – even if legally.
“If you see someone carrying a firearm in public – openly or concealed – and have ANY doubts about their intent, call 911 immediately and ask police to come to the scene. Never put your safety, or the safety of your loved ones, at the mercy of weak gun laws that arm individuals in public with little or no criminal and/or mental health screening,” the statement said.
Wrote Chad Baus at Buckeye Firearms: “The practice is called ‘SWATting,’ and it even has it’s own Wikipedia entry: ‘Swatting is the act of tricking an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into dispatching an emergency response based on the false report of an ongoing critical incident. The term derives from SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), a highly militarized type of police unit in the United States carrying equipment such as door breaching equipment and powerful firearms.’”
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Baus noted: “This isn’t the first time an anti-gun rights group has suggested endangering law-abiding citizens in this way. Groups like Michael Bloomberg’s Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America have also advocated the dangerous practice.”
He reported, too, that the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence previously had issued a statement: “If you see someone with a gun, continue to assume their activity is suspicious. There is no way for you to determine the ‘law abiding’ from those with criminal intent. Call law enforcement to investigate and leave the area.”
“That’s right,” Baus said. “Not only was the OCAGV guilty of openly encouraging the act of burdening Ohio law enforcement community with frivolous prank calls, they shameless told supporters to flee the scene before the officers they called arrived.
“Could this be because they knew their prank callers might wind up being the ones charged with a crime?”
He suggested the tactic is a good reason for more provisions for concealed carry.
September 2, 2015
PersonalLiberty.com - There’s a movement to call the cops on you for carrying your weapon
As Ohio-based Buckeyefirearms.org observes, calling the police on a person who is doing nothing observably criminal is tantamount to asking for unnecessary confrontation, and it’s illegal.
“The practice is called ‘SWATting,’ and it even has its own Wikipedia entry … While we are thankful that open carry is legal in Ohio and want it to remain so, this tactic by gun ban extremists provides yet another argument in favor of concealed carry. The crazies can’t call police about a gun they don’t know you’re carrying.”
September 1, 2015
FoxNews.com - Gun control groups accused of ‘swatting’ open-carry permit holders, putting lives at risk
As more states relax rules about open-carrying of guns, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has taken to social media to urge the public to assume gun-toters are trouble, and to call the cops on anyone they feel may be a threat.
“If you see someone carrying a firearm in public—openly or concealed—and have ANY doubts about their intent, call 911 immediately and ask police to come to the scene,” the group wrote on its widely followed Facebook page. “Never put your safety, or the safety of your loved ones, at the mercy of weak gun laws that arm individuals in public with little or no criminal and/or mental health screening.”
That approach, according to a blog post by Ohio-based Buckeye Firearms Association, could give rise to needless, tense confrontations between police and gun owners. The association and other similar groups liken the tactic to “swatting,” or the act of tricking an emergency service into dispatching responders based on a false report. Many online harassment campaigns have been known to participate in the practice.
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But the Buckeye Firearms Association believes the effort amounts to "conspiring to obstruct legal justice.”
August 31, 2015
USA Today - Sittenfeld pokes Strickland and Clinton on guns
Sittenfeld's campaign highlighted Strickland's A-plus rating in 2010 from the National Rifle Association and the Buckeye Firearms Association, along with the former governor's poor scores from gun-control advocacy groups.
August 28, 2015
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Bill Cunningham Show"
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine was a guest on The Bill Cunningham Show to discuss the murder of two journalists on live television.
August 24, 2015
Dayton Daily News - For gun buyers, waiting is the hardest part
Joe Eaton, a spokesman for the Buckeye Firearms Association, said his organization's focus is state not federal laws.
Still, he added, "Does it take months and months to do background checks for regular government employees and other similar areas?"
August 16, 2015
Columbus Dispatch - Gun-storage law sought in Ohio to prevent access by kids
Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said he respects Patmon and agrees that storage safety should be stressed to the public.
The association disagrees, however, about the need for a storage law with prescribed penalties. Prosecutors already have the authority to charge gun owners whose reckless acts result in a child’s injury or death, Irvine said. “It’s up to them to look at cases and make decisions.”
Irvine said shootings involving young children are relatively rare. “There are more incidences of people who can’t access their gun and die in a home invasion than there are little kids who find a gun and shoot each other,” he said.
August 6, 2015
Salon.com - The GOP’s mind-blowing gun-control hypocrisy: Americans have the right to bear arms — except at our debates!
Buckeye Firearms is a group that advocates arming personnel at K-12 schools and provides training for school employees to receive concealed carry permits. Jim Irvine, the organization’s chairman, agreed that it was hypocritical on the part of the GOP. “It’s nonsense to say, ‘Hey, our people can carry guns,’ and then not allow them at the debates.”
July 28, 2015
WBNS (CBS Columbus) - Law Allows Open Carry Of Firearms At Dublin Irish Festival
Secretary of the Buckeye Firearms Association Gerard Valentino said that’s a good thing.
"Anywhere that an honest law-abiding citizen carries a gun, immediately makes that place safer," he said. "When you're pretty much anywhere in the state of Ohio right now, based on the number of license holders we have, there is a civilian somewhere in that group with a gun. Nothing happens. It is not a threat."
July 27, 2015
WBNS (CBS Columbus) - Gun Stoppers Program Has No Record Of Any Guns Collected
The Buckeye Firearms Association opposed the Gun Stoppers program since its beginning. Gerard Valentino with the Association’s board said, "This whole program is designed to take illegal guns off the street, yet their own actions show us it must not be that big of a problem because they're using the money inappropriately and for completely different issues."
July 26, 2015
WBZI 1500 AM's "Classic Country Outdoor" radio program
Buckeye Firearms Association Treasurer Joe Eaton was a guest on "Classic Country Outdoor" with co-hosts David Linkhart and Larry Moore. The show is syndicated Sundays at noon on WKFI AM 1090, WEDI AM 1130, WBZI AM 1500, FM 100.3 and on the Internet at www.myclassiccountry.com.
July 22, 2015
WKRC (CBS Cincinnati) - Guns in Schools: Emergency response training educators
Over the last couple of years, more than 45 school districts from around Ohio have sent teachers and staff to a unique tactical training facility in Adams County.
The educators receive what's called "FASTER" training. It stands for Faculty Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response. Among other things they are trained to use guns in their schools.
The teachers and administrators have come from more than a dozen different Ohio counties. All the "students" already have their concealed carry licenses and the blessing of their school boards. At John Benner's Tactical Defense Institute in Adams County, they're learning powerful lessons about how to use guns in their schools.
The two day training is paid for by the Buckeye Firearms Association, a 501 c3.
Jim Irvine from Buckeye told Local 12 News, “The first couple of years we trained teachers and they went back and asked for permission to carry now we have school boards and school administrators sending us people saying, ‘Will you please train them?’”
While this is a first level class, some school districts have already progressed to second or third level's. And the program keeps expanding. The training at TDI is about a whole lot more than just guns and shooting. Angela Armstrong is one of the instructors for the buckeye firearms association.
Just off the range, she explained, “It's a huge responsibility to carry. Not just going through a concealed carry class you need to go get mindset training. The mindset is key, knowing how to use a firearm is one part of it.”
In addition to learning things like how to hang on to your weapon, personal safety training and situational awareness, the students also learn tactical combat casualty care. Just like the military, and they all receive trauma packs in case someone's seriously injured on their campus.
Lead instructor and TDI owner John Benner said, “These people's job is to stop the shooter then control the chaos. We want people to be as good a shooter as they're gonna be but the bottom line is the tactics are the thing that will really save people's lives.”
Local 12 News was asked not to identify the teachers and school districts involved in the training so that none of the staffers carrying weapons could become specific targets at a later date.
John Benner is known as one of the foremost experts on this kind of training in the entire country and it is beginning to expand all across the U.S.
CLICK HERE if you'd like more information about "FASTER" training or TDI.
July 22, 2015
Revealnews.org - Unlikely group fought to keep concealed gun permit information public
On July 1, Ohio lawmakers closed a loophole that specifically allowed journalists to review records of concealed gun permit holders, which were otherwise off-limits to the public. The repeal came after intense pushback from the gun rights group Buckeye Firearms Association.
July 14, 2015
The Outdoor Channel 's "NRA All Access" - Real Estate Agents: Why They Carry
Linda Walker, Vice President of Buckeye Firearms Association and a Board of Director of NRA was featured on The Outdoor Channel's "NRA All Access." The episode, entitled “Real Estate Agents: Why I Carry,” aired three times on The Outdoor Channel.
July 13, 2015
Newsmax.com - The 100 Most Influential Pro-Gun Rights Advocates
89. Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association in Ohio.
July 9, 2015
WOSU 89.7 FM - "All Sides with Ann Fisher"
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine was a guest on "All Sides with Ann Fisher," discussing the state of efforts to push gun control in the wake of the mass murder in a "no-guns" church in Charleston, S.C. with host Ann Fisher. Click here to listen to the podcast.
July 8, 2015
Sandusky Register - New law closes concealed carry permit records
The provision in the budget bill was inserted by Sen. Joe Uecker, R-Miami Township.
Uecker could not be reached for comment, but the Buckeye Firearms Association has argued that publishing information about people who hold CCW permits amounts to "abuse, harassment and intimidation." The association has criticized newspapers which published information about who holds the permits.
July 7, 2015
WJW (Fox Cleveland) - Fox 8 exclusive: Ohio Teachers Train to Carry Guns in Schools
School shootings have become a disturbing reality in Northeast Ohio and beyond. Since the Sandy Hook shooting, Ohio school districts are taking new steps to keep kids safe, including intensive training for school staff to carry guns in schools.
Fox 8 News reporter Matt Wright had exclusive access to a three-day FASTER (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response) course, in which school employees learned to confront a potential school shooter and eliminate the threat. Participants, including a superintendent, teachers, principals and a school bus driver, prepared for a potential school shooting situation in which every decision counts.
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The course culminates with force-on-force training: a series of drills and scenarios involving gunmen. Scenarios included an angry father confronting a teacher, an active shooter in the gym and a parent pulling a gun in the school office.
Participants use airsoft pistols and switch roles each time. They must decide how to proceed, including giving orders and calling 911. In some cases, they shoot the gunman, while in others they prevent the gunman from taking his own life. A debrief follows, with certified gun instructors critiquing performance.
“I’ve been a full-time police officer for 13 years, SWAT for 12 and I know I cannot respond fast enough, that we need someone in the building that can take care of the threat,” instructor Andrew Blubaugh said.
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Interest in FASTER and other courses took off following the Sandy Hook shooting.
“I think if people knew how common it was they would be shocked by it,” FASTER Director Jim Irvine said.
Irvine estimates that dozens of Ohio school districts already have armed staff. While the FASTER course is free to school employees, many districts, including those of some course participants, remain reluctant to allow staff to carry guns.
“Armed protection is not controversial. Our president’s kids have them; CEOs have them; Hollywood celebrities have them,” Irvine said. “They pay a lot of money for people to make them safer.”
Irvine argued the course is one of many ways districts can prepare for a gunman, and staff members can often respond faster than police or a school resource officer located in another building on a school’s campus.
July 7, 2015
TheTrace.org - Another State Just Made It Impossible for Reporters to Access Concealed Carry Records
Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, disagrees. “You go back to the media, and they don’t have one damn thing where any good has come out of this,” Irvine tells The Trace. “So why on earth would we risk people’s lives with personal data and give this information to people who, realistically, have caused some people some harm?”
Ohio created its licensing program in 2004 and, like most states, designated the records private. But then-Gov. Robert Taft III, a moderate Republican, vowed to veto the bill unless journalists could review them, creating what was dubbed the “media access loophole.”
This half-measure didn’t work well. In the first two years after passage, several papers published lists of area permit-holders on their websites, making licensee status show up with a simple Google search of someone’s name. Irvine says this endangered gun owners, including exposing two women who’d moved to Ohio fleeing violent relationships. “They had been successful, hadn’t been harassed, hadn’t been found in years, until the media goes and prints their name,” Irvine says, though he concedes, “This happened in the early days. I actually never talked to them.”
To stop mass lists, Ohio tweaked the law in 2006 to forbid “making copies,” the interpretation of which eventually banned even writing things down.
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After the 2006 change to the law, only one Ohio outlet published a comprehensive list of local permit holders. In 2007, the Sandusky Register ran a roster of the names, ages, and counties of residence of concealed-carry license holders in three counties. (All relevant links are now dead.) Editor Matt Westerhold said this was justified because it was lawful and the public was interested. The Buckeye Firearms Association said that Westerholt had made all listed license-holders potential targets for “bad guys.”
To demonstrate “just how much harm can come” from having one’s name in the newspaper, it published a step-by-step guide for stalking and harming Westerhold and his family, including the child who lived with his ex-wife. The article provided a partial birthday and social security number, along with tips on getting more data to make it “child’s play for a bad guy to open up credit accounts and commit various other acts of identity theft against him.”
“For us, we will pretend Mr. Westerhold was on this [concealed-carry license-holders’ list] and thus a bad guy is now targeting him,” wrote Ken Hanson, Buckeye Firearms Association legislative chair, in the post.
After discussing a mortgage Westerhold holds, Henson notes, “We also easily learn that Mr. Westerhold was cited into Oberlin Municipal Court for failure to wear a seatbelt and given a warning for speeding. We see he drives a 2003 Blue Chevy Tracker license plate DA*3816. A bad guy now has a car to look for around the Register’s parking lot if he wants to find him.”
While redacting some data, Hanson assured readers, “all of the information we used is available now, and anyone can find this type of information on a neighbor with very little effort.”
“[F]or the hardcore bad guy,” Hanson suggested means to find Westerhold’s daughter:
“With very little effort we find ex-wife’s residence and now are relatively sure of which public school his pre-teen child goes to simply by checking the auditor’s maps for this residence for school districts. A check of the school website will show us the bus schedule for that particular school and that street or address, so we will almost certainly, with little effort, know which bus the child rides and what time it picks up/drops off. Further, most public libraries keep copies of the local school yearbooks in the reference section.”
Irvine defends this act today. “I will tell you, we had a lot more [on Westerhold],” he says. “We didn’t have to redact out any digits of his SSN. I could have printed the whole thing, but I’m not going to do that, because it’s not right … I could have printed the sex of his child, but I didn’t. I could have told you the time — I could have given you, I could have laid out for a pedophile exactly how to go kill her.”
After this, no more license-holders’ names were published outside of specific criminal instances until 2011. Then, shortly after Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot at a public appearance, a writer for the Middletown Journalreported on local elected officials who travel armed. Many of those named were quoted and posed for pictures, clearly participating in the reportage. Still, the Buckeye Firearms Association was outraged. It pushed to end the loophole for good but a standalone bill to do so failed in 2013. So this year, lawmakers tacked the move onto the state budget. They succeeded.
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Irvine says, “It’s never been public record.” The now-closed access was, “a loophole to allow the media to access personal data on people they don’t like, to go carry out a vendetta. That’s what’s happened for 12 years, and now it’s done.”
July 5, 2015
Columbus Dispatch - Capitol Insider: Guns needed in churches, advocate says
While some have called for stricter gun regulations after the church shooting last month in Charleston, S.C., Chad D. Baus, secretary of the Buckeye Firearms Association, is espousing the opposite: End the restrictions in states such as Ohio and South Carolina on carrying concealed weapons (without advance permission) into places of worship, which otherwise become “no-guns victim zones.”
“There is strong biblical support for bearing arms for self-defense,” he said, but noted that many of today’s groups calling for more regulations are connected with churches. He criticized everyone from Pope Francis to Karl Rove to “President Barack Hussein Obama.”
“Will it take a church massacre in Ohio before the Republicans controlling the General Assembly do anything about it?” Baus asked. “Tell your legislators that places of worship shouldn’t be listed among the places where persons with murderous intent can take a gun, having full assurance that their intended victims have been disarmed by Ohio law.”
June 29, 2015
Columbus Dispatch - Gun-rights lobby now OK with Kasich despite 1994 weapons-ban vote
“He was horrible, but that was a long time ago,” said Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
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“He’s been good on the issue as governor,” said Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association, adding, “I think it’s fair for people to change over time. He’s become more friendly to the issue.”
June 29, 2015
NRANews.com - "Cam & Co."
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Sean Maloney was a guest on NRANews.com with NRANews.com's Cam Edwards on Cam & Company. Click here to view the segment.
June 26, 2015
Ironton Tribune - Working to protect its students
The goal is simple: Keeping the students safe. That is why the Rock Hill School District armed its staff about three years ago and why the district went public with it about a year ago.
And that is why staff took time out from summer break more training to make sure if the worst scenario happened, they would be prepared.
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The two days of training was funded by the Buckeye Firearms Association, whose president defends the idea of schools having armed staff on its premises.
“I want extreme safety,” Jim Irvine, said. “Is it too extreme building a building according to the fire code. I care about the kids. Who doesn’t think safety of children is important?”
Because of fire codes there has not been any loss of life in school fires for the past decade, he said.
“We want them to go into that fight and we want them to win that fight, instead of losing those kids,” Irvine said.
June 23, 2015
The Sportsman Channel - "Cam & Co."
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Sean Maloney was a guest on the Sportsman Channel's "Cam & Company." Click here to view the segment.
June 23, 2015
Toledo Blade -- Proposal would seal concealed-carry permits
“It’s a personal record,” said Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “Fourteen years ago, it wasn’t in the original bill. It was added at the last second because (then Gov. Bob Taft) insisted on it.”
Mr. Irvine suggested reporters should have used their exception to inform readers or viewers whether victims had gotten permits to defend themselves.
“When I read a story about a house fire where somebody’s died, the reporter always calls them out,” he said. “Three children died, and they didn’t have any working smoke detectors. If somebody drowns, they point out that they weren’t wearing a life jacket. ... I have never read a story where an old man was robbed and beaten and somebody looked and said he didn’t have a concealed carry (permit).”
June 19, 2015
WSYX (ABC Columbus) -- Church Security on the Minds of Pastors and Buckeye Firearms Association
The Buckeye Firearms Association said they have worked with a number of Ohio churches on developing security plans. Cliff Lake said "it helps to get a good guy with a gun into that building to deal with a bad guy with a gun."
Lake said churches pose unique challenges for security. "It's a lot more problematic, more risky if a bad guy with ill intent and murder on his mind wants to go into the church where generally everybody is in same room so it's an unfortunate tactical situation "
Lake said churches could take a page from school districts that have improved their safety plans with lock downs, drills and ALICE training. He thinks security can be phased in and come in "layers."
"Have people on the outside of the building watching folks, have people as greeters, and people on the inside so that at some level they have a greater likelihood of discovering a bad guy. It's maybe somebody with a larger bag that they shouldn't have, a longer coat, dressing out of season, that seems sort of suspicious. The last thing you want is them walking into the main hall and like this person did and just start killing wantonly."
While Lake said he embraces the fact that church leaders want to be welcoming, they still need a security plan. "As a parishioner, make your voice known, talk to your deacons, talk to your pastor, tell them this is a specific concern of yours to protect yourself and your family."
"We need people in the building that have the deterring ability or to neutralize the active killer. That is the only way these things are going to be prevented," said Lake.
In Ohio it's a felony if church members with a concealed handgun licenses bring their firearm to church. There is an exception if the parishioner gets permission from their house of worship authorities.
June 17, 2015
Associated Press -- Legislation to expand concealed weapons in Ohio passes committee
The bill also would allow permit holders onto school grounds as long as their gun remains locked in their car.
"It will make legal the normal activities that regularly occur on school property, including dropping off a spouse, or a child's lunch, homework, or medicine," Jim Irvine, executive director of the Buckeye Arms Association, testified earlier this month.
June 13, 2015
The Daily Advocate -- Press vs. Privacy?
Joe Eaton, treasurer and board member of the Buckeye Firearms Association (www.buckeyefirerams.org), agrees.
“There has never been a demonstrated public benefit for the media or others to be able to identify, demonize, or publicize people who are simply choosing the best tool possible to keep themselves and their families safe,” said Eaton. “The majority of these persons are simply honest Ohioans whose safety is already in jeopardy or ones who have decided that returning home each day to their family is a better choice than being a defenseless victim of crime.”
Eaton pointed to instances in which media outlets published, en masse, the names and addresses of concealed carry license holders. Locally, he specified articles published by the Sidney Daily News in 2004 which revealed the personal information of Ohioans who had applied for licenses with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
“In regards to the wholesale printing of [concealed handgun license] holders, our objections remain,” said Eaton. “There is no public benefit from this being available, the only use as we have seen is to attempt bring unwanted attention to persons with CHLs.”
June 10, 2015
Gongwer News Service -- Witnesses Differ Over Bill To Expand Concealed-Carry Laws
Buckeye Firearms Association President James Irvine said it's gratifying to see how much the opponents like Ohio's current gun laws and argued that this bill builds on previous legislation's success.
He argued that the bill doesn't "force" guns anywhere and further praised its removal of prohibitions on carrying firearms on airplanes, saying federal law is sufficient in this area. Mr. Irvine urged lawmakers to support the legislation.
June 9, 2015
Gannett Ohio - Ohio Senate wants gun permits secret
Gun advocates say journalists have abused access to concealed handgun licenses by publicizing lists of their names and putting gun owners in danger. A New York newspaper published a map of concealed carry permit holders and their addresses after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
"There's no public good that comes out of the media accessing that list. So it should be closed," said Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearm Association.
Sheriff's offices are responsible for making sure people with gun permits are following the law, not reporters, he added.
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Another change in the two-year budget would allow members of the military to carry concealed handgun licenses while on active leave. They would have to carry valid military identification and a certificate of training as well as be at least 18 years old.
Ohioans can serve in the military at 18 years old but cannot obtain a concealed gun permit until they are 21 years old, Irvine said.
"They carry guns overseas, then come home on military leave, and we are disarming them. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever," Irvine said.
June 2, 2015
Guns.com - Documentary looks at armed teachers in America (VIDEO)
The team, who is funding the project through a Kickstarter campaign that ends Friday, has talked to educators, administrators and local law enforcement in Sydney, Ohio, and is scheduled to return this month for additional interviews. They will also have the opportunity to attend a gun training session for teachers with the Buckeye Firearms Association.
Akeret and Way said they were initially met with some skepticism over the film, and that the idea of two women from Massachusetts traveling to Ohio to make a documentary about guns could be summed up as predictable, cheap and boring. But despite the backlash, which they admit came mostly from their own friends who questioned why they weren’t taking a greater stand against guns, the team pressed forward. Despite them coming from the bluest city in the bluest state, they said they were welcomed in Ohio once those they were interviewing realized they were there out of genuine curiosity, and not just there to degrade their decisions.
May 17, 2015
Dix Communications - House Bill 48 would allow guns on campus, in churches
Sean Maloney, representing the Buckeye Firearms Association, cited school shootings and other incidents nationally, among reasons for the proposed law changes. Perpetrators, he said, plan such crimes in advance to kill as many people as quickly as possible.
"By allowing a potential victim to defend their own life in more places, it makes law-abiding citizens safer, deters would-be mass murderers and protects the public in general," Maloney said.
May 14, 2015
Bryan Times - Reciprocity opens state to more guns
Chad Baus, of Archbold, a weapons instructor with the Buckeye Firearms Association, said Ohio is better off with the new H.B. 234 standard.
“The new standard isn’t lower, it’s higher,” he said. “The other states said we weren’t thorough enough because we didn’t include NICS (to verify permit eligibility). We increased the standard to include that and picked up reciprocity with more states because of it.”
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“A gun permit should be no different than a driver’s license,” Baus said. “If you get a driver’s license in one state, all 50 recognize it. You don’t have to jump through hoops to figure out which ones do or don’t. Driving isn’t a Constitutional right, but bearing arms is. All 50 states need to recognize each other and make it easier to come and go. We don’t have a problem with people coming in from other states because they don’t have any problems coming in.”
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“I don’t have a problem if the state eliminates mandatory training, even though I’m an instructor,” Baus said. “Indiana hasn’t required training since 1934. There’s never been a move to implement it and they don’t have any problems. Pennsylvania is exactly the same way ... People who need training will get it voluntarily and they have.”
While Baus supports the concept behind H.B. 152, he doubts any of its changes will be passed into law.
“No chance,” he said. “I’ve seen something like this on the floor in every General Session for the last decade and it never gets acted on.”
May 13, 2015
Gongwer News Service - Proponents Tout Concealed Carry Bill As Effort To Increase Public Safety
The Buckeye Firearms Association and other proponents urged support for the legislation (HB 48) which would eliminate certain so-called victim zones, allow for concealed carry on college campuses and clarify that existing affirmative defense statutes apply uniformly, in testimony before the House State Government Committee.
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Seeking to address questions of why the proposed changes are needed, Sean Maloney, who spoke on behalf of the Buckeye Firearms Association, argued that the state has yet to prove a justifiable need to restrict Second Amendment rights.
Pointing to gun-related tragedies that have occurred across the country, Mr. Maloney said many have taken place in "gun free" zones. Such mass killings are planned and "a law that disarms...victims enables such a killer," he argued.
Mr. Maloney cited a 2000 analysis that he said found states with fewer gun free zones had the greatest reduction in killings, injuries and attacks. The report, he said, further concluded that variances in state right-to-carry laws are important, as restricting places where permits aren't allowed increases murder, injuries and shootings.
"By allowing a potential victim to defend their own life in more places, it makes law abiding citizens safer, deters would-be mass murderers and protects the public in general," the witness said.
May 13, 2015
WSYX (ABC Columbus) - Lawmakers Consider Changes in Gun-Free Zones on Campuses, Churches, Schools
Sean Maloney with the Buckeye Firearms Association said "gun-free zones are becoming victim zones" and we want to change that. "Look at Columbine, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, we all know them by heart, those tragedies over and over again."
Maloney said "House Bill 48 seeks to remedy many of the restrictions which prove to interfere with the ability to protect our lives."
May 13, 2015
Dix Communications newspapers - Gun groups urge officials to lift prohibitions
Sean Maloney, representing the Buckeye Firearms Association, cited school shootings and other incidents nationally, among reasons for the proposed law changes. Perpetrators, he said, plan such crimes in advance to kill as many people as quickly as possible.
"By allowing a potential victim to defend their own life in more places, it makes law-abiding citizens safer, deters would-be mass murderers and protects the public in general," Maloney said.
May 11, 2015
WSPD 1370AM - "LeFebvre & The Morning News"
Buckeye Firearms Association Southwest Ohio Region Leader Joe Eaton was a guest on WSPD with host Fred LeFebvre. Click here to listen to the podcast.
May 6, 2015
WBNS (CBS Columbus) - Proposed House Bill Would Allow Holders To Carry Concealed Weapons More Public Places
The Buckeye Firearms Association helped craft House Bill 48. Spokesman Linda Walker explains that she shouldn’t have to get government permission to carry her gun. “It's a God-given right to self-defense. As the more people who have been able to carry, it's a proven fact that crime has gone down.”
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“All of this has trampled upon our Second Amendment rights,” adds Walker.
May 6, 2015
NRANews.com - "Cam & Co."
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Sean Maloney was a guest on NRANews.com with NRANews.com's Cam Edwards on Cam & Company. Click here to view the segment.
May 6, 2015
WCMH (NBC Columbus) - Should Concealed Carry Firearms Be Allowed On Campus?
The Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA) says people should be more worried about law-breakers than concealed carry permit-holders.
"We could have a criminal walking into the daycare centers or on to the college campuses that we have no clue what they are," said Linda Walker, BFA Vice President. "The law-abiding citizen is not the one we need to be worrying about."
May 6, 2015
NRANews.com - "Cam & Co."
Buckeye Firearms Association Vice President Linda Walker was a guest on NRANews.com with NRANews.com's Cam Edwards on Cam & Company. Click here to view the segment.
April 23, 2015
Springfield News-Sun - Some Ohio school districts have guns at the ready
The Buckeye Firearms Foundation, vocal supporters of weapons in schools, is optimistic about the growth of the number of districts putting firearms in the hands of staff. Joe Eaton, program director of the foundation’s FasterSavesLives.org, said his organization began putting together a training program for teachers within a few weeks after Sandy Hook.
Once the organization began offering the free training, it found plenty of interest.
“Since we started this in 2013 we have run over 300 Ohio teachers through it from about 50 districts throughout Ohio,” Eaton said.
Teachers from Illinois, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Kentucky also have taken part. Of the 3,000 people who applied to take part in the program, Eaton said 45 percent have their Ohio concealed handgun license and are already carrying a weapon outside of school.
Eaton said the foundation will hold firearms training this summer for six classes, with 24 teachers in each one.
April 21, 2015
WJW - (FOX Cleveland) - Revamp of Cleveland gun laws approved by city council
Gun rights groups, including the Buckeye Firearms Association, opposed the law. Its president, Jim Irvine, said the state already has sufficient gun laws on the books, and Cleveland should focus its resources on improving gun safety education.
April 21, 2015
NRANews.com - "Cam & Co."
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Sean Maloney was a guest on NRANews.com with NRANews.com's Cam Edwards on Cam & Company.
April 21, 2015
WEWS (ABC Cleveland) - Cleveland's new gun law approved by city council
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine believes the new Cleveland gun law isn't the answer.
"We already have plenty of laws on the books at the state level, which carry stiffer penalties than what city council can approve," said Irvine. "What we really need is more education for our children on how to deal with weapons that are found in the home."
April 19, 2015
Columbus Dispatch - Capitol Insider
Youngstown-area lawyer Sean Maloney, who specializes in Second Amendment cases and helped unseat two gun-control advocates from Colorado’s Senate in 2013, was elected at the NRA’s 144th annual meeting last weekend in Nashville, Tenn. Both Maloney and Linda Walker, a central Ohio real-estate agent who has been on the NRA’s board since 2011, are members of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
April 17, 2015
Dayton Daily News - Ohio bill limits when police can seize weapons
Buckeye Firearms Association spokesman Jim Irvine said the group doesn’t have a position on Jordan’s bill but noted that police often take guns from law-abiding citizens and then retrieval can be costly.
“There is no point in spending $1,500 in legal fees to get a $1,000 gun back and the cities know that. There is a real problem that needs to get solved,” Irvine said.
April 16, 2015
WKRC (CBS Cincinnati) - Bill would eliminate concealed carry permits
Gun rights advocates say this is another step in the right direction.
"You're not relaxing the regulations, we're rolling back regulations which have been put on the honest people in Ohio already," says Joe Eaton of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
April 15, 2015
Toledo Blade - Editorial: Assault on public safety
The Buckeye Firearms Association supports the Ohio bill, which would repeal the requirement for Ohioans who seek a concealed-carry permit to get eight hours of firearms training and submit to a background check.
April 11, 2015
Armed American Radio
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine co-hosted "Armed American Radio," the official radio program of The United States Concealed Carry Association. AAR is syndicated nationally by Salem Radio Network.
April 10, 2015
Dayton Daily News - Bill could change conceal carry law in school zones
Jim Irvine, Chairman of Buckeye Firearms Association, says currently a person would have to drive back home and drop off their gun before going into the school.
“When your kid is sick and you need to go sign him out, that’s not what everyone wants,” Irvine said.
The current law makes no sense, Irvine said, and HB 20 somewhat fixes the problem.
“It doesn’t change everything and solve the whole thing, but it makes it much better,” he said.
April 9, 2015
WHBC 1480 AM's "The Ron Ponder Show" radio program
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine was a guest on "The Ron Ponder Show".
April 9, 2015
Ohio Public Radio - State Lawmakers Considering Changes To Concealed Carry Law
Jim Irvine, with the Buckeye Firearms Association, says the state should do what some others have done: scrap the permit requirement for handguns.
“Is there a case for having a big registration scheme and having people pay fees to the state to exercise a constitutional right? And I think a lot of people are finding, no, you can’t make a good case for that. And if you can’t, then why are we doing it,” Irvine said.
April 8, 2015
Dayton Daily News - Opponents fire back at controversial gun bill
“It’s been going on for a long time now — at least 14 years,” said Jim Irvine, spokesman for the Buckeye Firearms Association.
Irvine said while the General Assembly is more conservative now than in recent years, it doesn’t mean the bills will gain traction. Pro-gun bills often start in the House but are blocked in the Senate, where political power is more consolidated and it’s harder to get the legislation passed, Irvine said.
He complains that Ohio is “perpetually 10 to 20 years behind what the rest of the country is doing on firearms legislation.”
For example, concealed carry weapons permit holders in Ohio can’t leave their guns in their cars while at work without risking being fired; guns cannot be left in cars while permit holders go inside a school; and someone who uses a gun in self-defense must prove the action was justified, Irvine said. “Ohio’s firearms laws are drastically out of touch with the rest of the country,” he said.
April 8, 2015
Guns.com - Buckeye State looks to constitutional carry
Second Amendment groups in the state fear that the likelihood of the bill making it to law may not be very strong despite a Republican majority in both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly and Republican John Kasich in the governor’s mansion.
“I think it would be great to see this become law in Ohio,” said Joe Eaton with the Buckeye Firearms Association. “But, unfortunately in the past, the Ohio legislature has not even been willing to allow a licensed person simple rights.”
April 8, 2015
WOIO (CBS Cleveland) - Proposed gun bill would eliminate permits, training, background checks
"We support the legislation, but Ohio is 10 to 20 years behind the nation in gun laws and this bill won't pass. But you can expect up to four other states to pass similar bills this year," said Jim Irvine with Buckeye Firearms, a pro gun owner group.
April 8, 2015
WCPO (ABC Cincinnati) - Ohio lawmakers considering bill that would allow concealed carry without permit
Gun advocates are cautiously optimistic about the bill's intentions. "What other constitutional right do we have to go get a license from the state to exercise?" said Jim Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
April 8, 2015
Columbus Dispatch - Bill would allow Ohioans to carry concealed firearms with no permit, training
“This is a concept that is getting interest on a national basis,” said Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “It’s kind of like concealed carry was 25 years ago.”
...
Irvine said the measure may not pass in the current two-year legislative session, but he thinks it eventually will.
“Ohio has been 10 to 20 years behind the country on firearms stuff,” he said. “The world didn’t end in any other state where this passed, and it won’t in Ohio either.”
April 8, 2015
WEWS (ABC Cleveland) - House bill would eliminate the need for a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Ohio
Gun advocates are cautiously optimistic about House Bill 147, introduced in the Ohio house by Ashville Representative Ron Hood.
“What other constitutional right do we have to go get a license from the state to exercise?” said Jim Irvine of Buckeye Firearms Association.
April 7, 2015
WXIX (Dayton FOX) - Ohio proposal would allow concealed carry without permit
"I think it would be great to see this become law in Ohio. But, unfortunately in the past, the Ohio legislature has not even been willing to allow a licensed person simple rights,” said Joe Eaton with the Buckeye Firearms Association.
April 7, 2015
Gannett Company newspapers - Bill would allow concealed carry without permit
Ken Hanson, legislative director of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said Ohio isn't ready for concealed carry without permits — a law that a few states have. Buckeye Firearms Association wasn't consulted before the bill was introduced, he added.
"It would be great," Hanson said of concealed carry without permits. "But the problem is we have already circulated our legislative priorities, and this bill has no chance of passage this session."
March 25, 2015
Marietta Times - Misfire or on target? People weigh in on Ohio’s new gun law
Under previous gun laws, background checks were run, but Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said the question became "What databases did we check? Was it a criminal background check or a mental health background check?"
"In different databases, we're looking at things very differently," he said.
When someone renounces their citizenship, for instance, Irvine said their right to own a firearm is also denounced.
"Say someone decides they're going to join ISIS and they're thinking along the lines of renouncing their citizenship...(should they do that) they are prohibited under law from possessing a gun," he said.
The new checks let law enforcement see people who are "prohibited" and ensures that they are not able to own a firearm or apply for/obtain a concealed-carry permit.
Some others who are prohibited from obtaining a concealed carry include those who have drug violations, have pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, have a misdemeanor offense of violence or have been charged with the falsification of a handgun license.
"Nobody should have opposition to this," said Irvine.
...
Irvine said the decrease of hours will be beneficial for everyday people who might not have had the time to previously obtain a permit with the 12-hour restriction.
"The training is designed to do the basic fundamental understanding of the law and safety functions for firearms," he said. "It provides the minimum standard for getting licensed. Then you go out and practice and continue to learn and develop skills. We're going to have more people get training now and that's a good thing."
March 25, 2015
WTVN (610 AM Columbus) - "The Joel Riley Show"
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine was a guest on "The Joel Riley Show" discussing the implementation of HB 234, legislation which makes several changes to Ohio law that are of particular significance to Ohio gun owners. Click here to listen to the podcast.
March 24, 2015
Toledo Blade - New Ohio law allows quieter guns in woods
“This is a very comprehensive bill,” said Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “Over time, people will look back and see this as a watershed law that fixed a lot of little things.”
...
Mr. Irvine said while gun-rights supporters wanted “stand your ground” in the law, many “other issues that are addressed in the bill will benefit more people. Stand your ground doesn’t affect that many people’s lives.
March 23, 2015
WHBC 1480 AM's "The Ron Ponder Show" radio program
Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine was a guest on "The Ron Ponder Show" discussing the implementation of HB 234, legislation which makes several changes to Ohio law that are of particular significance to Ohio gun owners.
March 23, 2015
WJW - (FOX Cleveland) - Less-strict gun laws go into effect in Ohio today
March 23, 2015
WCMH (NBC Columbus) - New Gun Laws Take Effect Monday
The Buckeye Firearms Association was instrumental in encouraging lawmakers to revise the previous gun laws. Linda Walker is their Vice President and said two states bordering Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania have no training requirements for concealed carry permits. Two others, Michigan and Kentucky require eight hours like Ohio's new law.
"The fact is the states that don't require training have no more accidents with firearms than states such as Illinois, which requires 16 hours of training," Walker said.
March 23, 2015
Columbus Dispatch - Less-strict gun rules start in Ohio today
“This is a very comprehensive bill,” said Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “Over time, people will look back and see this as a watershed law that fixed a lot of little things.”
...
Irvine said while gun-rights supporters wanted “stand your ground” in the law, many “other issues that are addressed in the bill will benefit more people. Stand your ground doesn’t affect that many people’s lives.”
He said the new background check procedures are a big improvement.
“For the first time, Ohio is going to do real background checks,” he said. The new law empowers county sheriffs to check three national databases directly, instead of just one maintained by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation of the Ohio attorney general’s office. The federal databases contain voluminous criminal-history records, including warrants, protection orders and lists of people who don’t qualify for a permit because of a prior arrest or dishonorable military discharge.
Irvine got pushback from his members who feared the law will empower the federal government to decide who does and does not get a concealed-carry permit. “This has nothing to do with ceding power over firearms rights to the federal government,” he said.
March 20, 2015
The New Political - Proposed bill would ban realistic look-alike guns
Jim Irvine, chairman of Ohio gun rights group Buckeye Firearms Association, said the bill goes too far. Imitation guns are popular on shooting ranges. The BBs used instead of bullets, made from plastic, aluminum and other materials, offer a safer training method. Isolated instances like those in Cleveland and Dayton, he said, should not call for a statewide ban, suggesting police and citizen training in handling and recognizing weapons as a better route.
“There have been a couple tragic incidences. Everyone agrees on that,” Irvine said. “It’s not a widespread problem.”
March 18, 2015
WRGT (FOX Dayton) - Bill Would Ban BB & Replica Guns
Avid shooter and gun rights advocate Joe Eaton Disagrees. Eaton is also the Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the Buckeye Firearms Association.
"It (the bill proposal) is looking to solve a problem that is unsolvable with legislation. New laws are not going to change any of these horrific and tragic events that we've seen," said Eaton.
Eaton says police are not focused on whether someone is holding a toy or BB gun and that they are forced to make split second decisions.
"Is the person complying with their instructions? Is the person acting in an aggressive or a threatening manner? The way to solve these situations is for people to comply and work with the police so they can slow down the situation," said Eaton.
March 10, 2015
Columbus Dispatch - ATF reconsiders proposed ban on popular ammunition
Gun rights advocates saw the ban of the ammunition, popular with the target shooting and hunting crowd, as an attack on people’s Second Amendment rights, rather than a way to make police officers safe, said Sean Maloney with the Buckeye Firearms Association.
“When America realized what the ATF was doing was trying to apply certain parts of the statute that couldn’t even really commit that the ammunition be classified as armor piercing, they really didn’t have anywhere to go,” Maloney said.
February 24, 2015
TenthAmendmentCenter.com - Ohio Bill Seeks to Nullify Any New Federal Firearm Registration or Ban
HB35 was initially referred to the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, but has since been reassigned to the State Government Committee which is chaired by a strong 2A supporter and HB35 cosponsor Rep. Ron Maag. Sponsor Rep. Ron Hood and another cosponsor Rep. John Becker also sit on this committee.
This same exact bill was introduced in March of 2013 (HB99), but died a slow death in the State and Local Government Committee despite support from the Tenth Amendment Center, Gun Owners of America, National Association for Gun Rights and Buckeye Firearms Association, Ohio’s preeminent pro-gun lobby.
February 24, 2015
Associated Press - AP Source: Strickland to Seek Portman US Senate Seat
Earlier this month, news that the Buckeye Firearms Association was questioning Strickland on gun rights, one of his strongest issues with swing voters in the closely divided state, was redistributed by the Republican National Senatorial Committee and the Ohio Republican Party.
February 20, 2015
Youngstown Vindicator - Strickland’s in Senate race
Buckeye Firearms [Association] says Strickland has abandoned his gun-rights beliefs and the Ohio Coal Association say he's now anti-coal. Both groups backed Strickland in the past.
February 17, 2015
NationalJournal.com - Republicans Accuse Strickland of Abandoning His Former Supporters
"Many gun owners will no doubt hold respect for Strickland's four year term as governor in Ohio … after his narrow defeat, however, Strickland turned his back on the gun rights community that had kept his re-election race competitive," wrote Chad D. Baus, vice chairman for the political action committee of local gun manufacturer[sic] Buckeye Firearms. The group, along with the National Rifle Association, supported Strickland in his most recent gubernatorial bid, but now argue his record at CAP has made him an unacceptable candidate.
February 15, 2015
WVXU (Cincinnati Public Radio) - Strickland being pummeled by GOP - and he's not even a candidate yet
The NRSC made sure that the Ohio media knew about a column on the Buckeye Firearms Association website blasting Strickland for the fact that the Center for American Progress has lobbied for gun control laws.
“Everybody has a price and Ted Strickland sold out to the liberal Center for American Progress to run an operation that lobbied against our Second Amendment rights,’’ NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek said in a news release.
February 12, 2015
WOUC (Cambridge PBS) - Buckeye Firearms questions Strickland on gun rights
February 11, 2015
Associated Press - Ohio's US Senate race intensifies before Strickland decision
On Wednesday, news that the Buckeye Firearms Association was questioning Strickland on gun rights, one of his strongest issues with swing voters in the closely divided state, was redistributed by the Republican National Senatorial Committee and the Ohio Republican Party.
...The Buckeye Firearms Association's article, under the headline "Buckeye Firearms Feels Betrayed By Strickland's Work At The CAP," morphed quickly after distribution into suggestions that Strickland would not receive or had already lost its endorsement in the Senate race.
Jim Irvine, who chairs the association's political action committee, said it's concerned over Strickland's affiliation with the center, which he described as "decidedly anti-gun." But Irvine said it's premature to say that Strickland's job there would lose him his positive rating with the gun rights community. Besides, Irvine noted, Strickland isn't even a candidate yet.
"Why does he advocate for something that goes against who he's been his entire professional career? I don't know," Irvine said. "I haven't talked to him about it, but that certainly is reason for concern."
Irvine said Portman is an adept hunter respected among 2nd Amendment supporters, while Strickland shot game to put food on the table for his family in rural Appalachian Ohio. He said Portman and Strickland are well known to Ohio gun rights supporters and time will tell how things play out.
February 11, 2015
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Buckeye Firearms splits with Ted Strickland as he considers Senate race: Ohio Politics Roundup
Buckeye Firearms breaks with Ted Strickland as the former governor considers a run for U.S. Senate. P.G. Sittenfeld rakes in the cash. Read on in today's Ohio Politics Roundup.
Pro-gun group signals split with Ted Strickland: Buckeye Firearms, which along with the National Rifle Association backed then-Gov. Ted Strickland's unsuccessful re-election bid in 2010, doesn't seem likely to endorse the Democrat if he runs for U.S. Senate.
"Many gun owners will no doubt hold respect for Strickland's four year term as governor in Ohio," Chad D. Baus, the Buckeye Firearms secretary and vice chairman of the organization's political action committee, wrote Wednesday.
"After his narrow defeat, however, Strickland turned his back on the gun rights community that had kept his re-election race competitive," Baus adds.
Examples cited: Strickland's support late in his term for anti-gun Ohio Supreme Court justices, his enthusiastic backing of President Barack Obama and his work for the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund, an arm of a Washington think tank.
Strickland is expected to announce soon whether he'll seek the Senate seat held by Republican incumbent Rob Portman, who is running for re-election next year.
February 4, 2015
Bryan Times - Silent justice for gun permits
Ohio law will change on March 23, making it easier to get a concealed carry permit because the 12-hour training requirement decreases to eight.
The law hasn’t changed yet, but Buckeye Firearms Association instructor Chad Baus, in Archbold, is already teaching to the shorter standard.
“The key is that everybody knows they can’t apply for a permit until after March 23,” Baus said in a phone interview on Jan. 20. “It would be a felony otherwise. When you apply for the permit, you commit to have taken a class that meets legal requirements. If you did anything short of that, it’s a lie, a big no-no.
“We’re a very law-abiding crowd,” Baus said. “We brag about defending ourselves under our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, so we need to follow the law. Any one of us who violates the law diminishes that argument. Twelve hours is 12 hours; not nine, not five. If the law says eight hours, we train for eight hours.
“Indiana and Pennsylvania require zero hours of training,” Baus said. “We haven’t seen shoot-outs over fender benders or people dropping their guns in Wal-Mart; none of the hysterical what-ifs people bring up whenever we talk about decreasing hours here. [Indiana has] been that way since 1934; if there were any problems like that we would have seen them there by now, but we just haven’t.
“I’m an instructor and I make money off instructing,” he said. “If Ohio went to zero hours required, I’d be good with that because I think those who need training seek training. If that training doesn’t meet the standard and follow the law, and somebody has to shoot, they’re going to get ripped apart in a court room. It definitely increases certain aspects of liability.”
What difference does it make?
Weapons training, or the lack thereof, won’t matter if any of Bonney’s students ever actually use lethal force in self-defense, according to Buckeye Firearms Association attorney Ken Hansen.
“That won’t even come into it,” he said in a phone interview on Jan 20. “If you use a weapon in self-defense, there is no inference of liability from lack of training.
“It comes down to whether or not you were justified in using it,” he said, “and there is no legal requirement to teach what that is.”
Justification of lethal force is spelled out in Attorney General Mike DeWine’s handbook, “Ohio’s Concealed Carry Law and License Application.” The last three pages are dedicated to “Alternative Dispute Resolution” techniques and the value of keeping those options open.
“Everyone who takes a class gets a copy,” Hansen said. “They attest to having read it when they sign for a permit, but nobody has to teach it.”
January 25, 2015
Toledo Blade - Lake Local board listens to state group on possibly arming staff to protect youth
Representatives from Buckeye Firearms Association, a statewide advocacy group that promotes Ohioans’ rights to carry firearms, were invited by the school district to deliver an hourlong presentation about their free program to train teachers and other school personnel how to handle guns and defend against possible school shootings.
...Joe Eaton, program director for Buckeye’s safety training program called FASTER, said the three-day training is offered free to schools across Ohio. The group uses private donations to fund the training.
They have budgeted $100,000 to provide training sessions in 2015, Mr. Eaton said.
“Right after Sandy Hook, we started putting as much money and resources as we could into providing this type of training to any school district that has teachers willing to be certified to carry a concealed weapon though the program,” he said, referring to an elementary-school massacre in Newtown, Conn., in 2013.
So far nearly 300 teachers and administrators, from various districts statewide, have participated in FASTER training, he said.
Jim Irvine, president of Buckeye’s board of directors, said the training helps school staff know what to do if they are confronted with a lethal situation.
Asked by a board member why such training is necessary with the Lake Township Police Department just a mile away from Lake middle and high schools, Mr Irvine responded: “That’s wonderful, but is a mile away close enough?”
While Lake Local has a police officer in the building most of the time, that officer can be called away to off-campus incidents. The officer’s campus presence and job to build relationships with students were cited by both board and audience members during the meeting.
Mr. Irvine told the board about a recent student plot at a different Ohio school district that local police foiled before the plan was carried out.
Police later learned the “kids were planning to kill the resource officer first,” he said.
Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer told the board he was willing to work with them no matter what they decide. He suggested that his department be included in any training of school personnel and recommended ongoing training beyond the three-day course Buckeye offers.
January 24, 2015
WTVG (ABC Toledo) - Lake Local discusses arming teachers in schools
Lake School Board President, Tim Krugh, says they are considering a plan that would allow trained employees and teachers to carry guns inside of the schools, to stop an active shooter.
"The issue is can we do something better, something more, in the event of an horrific situation where somebody get in and try's to shoot and kill our kids," said Tim Krugh, Lake School Board President. "At a minimum require someone to go through concealed carry training and then enroll in the Buckeye Firearms FASTER program, which is a 3.5 day intensive training program."
Board members held a meeting today with representatives from Buckeye Firearms Association, a group that offers free training to schools.
January 24, 2015
Sentinel-Tribune - Lake discusses arming school employees
Lake Schools broached the possibility of arming some school staff during a board workshop on student safety Saturday.
A group of teachers is opposed to the idea, and many questions remain after a discussion with representatives of the Buckeye Firearms Association, who appealed to emotion while offering free training for staff should the board continue to pursue the idea.
"It is not OK for people to sit around and wait to be murdered in a school. It is OK to fight back and it is OK to start saving lives and to keep yourself alive," said Joe Eaton of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
"The one thing for certain we've seen is that these teachers will die for our kids. They've shown that time and time again. What we want to do is if a teacher is wiling to stand between somebody murdering kids and to die for those kids is give them any tool that they want to keep themselves and these kids alive."
...[Police Chief Mark] Hummer said he's particularly interested in reviewing the curriculum of Buckeye Firearms' three-day training program, which would be offered for free with the exception that participants would be responsible for their own meals. The police chief also wants to discuss a plan for ongoing training, as authorized staff would need to work with local law enforcement after completing the course.
...The educational content of the training program was discussed only generally Saturday, as it's important to keep certain aspects confidential, said Jim Irvine, president of Buckeye Firearms Association.
The names of those permitted to carry weapons on school property would likely also remain secret with the exception of the board, certain administrators and police. Irvine said he doesn't even keep a full record of those who have participated in the training in fear that the names could be made public and make those people "targets" in the event of a school shooting.
January 23, 2015
Toledo Blade - FEATURED EDITORAL: Guns and students
The Lake Local school board has scheduled a forum on Saturday to discuss, among other things, a training program that the Buckeye Firearms Association offers to school staff.
January 22, 2015
FarmandDairy.com - Handy manual for firearms laws across states
A freshly printed 2015 Travelers Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States is being offered by Buckeye Firearms Association and should be required reading for every person who will leave home with guns aboard or on their person.
...Cost is $14.95 from the Buckeye Firearms Association.
January 21, 2015
WSPD 1370AM - "Scott Sands"
Buckeye Firearms Association Southwest Ohio Region Leader Joe Eaton was a guest on WSPD with host Scott Sands.
January 20, 2015
Toledo Blade - Lake Local may join trend of allowing armed staff
The way Tim Krugh sees it, he’s just trying to minimize carnage.
The Lake Local Board of Education president said that when he reads or hears about mass shootings in schools, he worries about it happening in his district. With the school system cash-strapped, and no large police force nearby, he’s joined a growing number of Ohio school officials considering a last-ditch line of defense: arming staff.
Mr. Krugh is quick to say that no decision has been made. The board will hold a forum at 10 a.m. Saturday, at which a Buckeye Firearms Association speaker will discuss a training program the nonprofit offers to school staff.
It is a chance for the community to ask questions about having teachers, principals, or janitors, or anyone carrying a gun into their child’s school.
“We are looking at every option we can,” Mr. Krugh said.
January 16, 2015
Christian Science Monitor - Liam Neeson comments: Must action stars oppose gun control?
Para USA, which has provided firearms for Neeson’s latest film is calling the star a hypocrite for his pro-gun control statements to the media and is calling for an industry-wide boycott against him...
...Facebook user Linda Walker posted, “Awesome, thank you for taking this stand.”
January 12, 2015
The Press - Lake board to hear consultant on gun policy
A safety consultant from Buckeye Firearms Association has been invited to a Jan. 24 workshop of the Lake school board to explain the association’s Faculty/Administrator Training & Emergency Response (FASTER) program.
The program offers training for school personnel in the event of an actual shooter on school property.
...The Buckeye Firearms Association website describes the FASTER program as an “…intensive 3-day class where you will learn many of the same skills and tactics used by law enforcement. Your instructors will include professional law enforcement personnel with extensive knowledge of active shooter situations.”
Participants are required to have concealed handgun licenses issued by the state in which they work before undergoing the training.
January 6, 2015
Sentinel-Tribune - Lake to discuss arming staff
School security, which could include arming some trained staff members, will be the main topic of a Jan. 24 special board meeting.
At Monday's organization meeting, the board set that meeting for 10 a.m. and a Jan. 31, 7:30 a.m. workshop. There will be no regular meeting this month.
Tim Krugh, who will continue as board president this year, said after the meeting that a speaker from Buckeye Firearms Association, a non-profit group, will attend the Jan. 24 meeting.
"We want to see if there's anything we can do to improve the safety of our student body," he said.
Staff members who go through an "extensive and intensive" training could be allowed to carry a firearm to school, Krugh said. He added that this is becoming a trend in Northwest Ohio.
Research, he said, shows that arming staff is about the only way to minimize carnage if there was a school shooting. Most of these attacks take place within 8-10 minutes and, even with a police department one mile down Ohio 795, a staff member with a gun would be more effective at taking on an active shooter, Krugh said.
Whether staff would participate, or if there would be enough, has yet to be determined, he said. There would need to be three or four staff members at each building for the program to be effective, Krugh said.
"From what I've learned … the training we're looking at is more intensive than even law enforcement goes through, as far as dealing with an active shooter," he said.
According to the Buckeye Firearms Association website, Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response, which provides "active killer" training to Ohio teachers and administrators, was launched in December 2012.
January 6, 2015
WTOL (CBS Toledo) - Lake School Board discusses allowing employees to carry firearms
School Board President Tim Krugh says leaders have recently talked about a plan that would allow certain employees and possibly teachers to carry weapons inside the schools. He says they are looking at it as a way to stop an active shooter from pulling off a tragedy similar to Sandy Hook and other deadly school shootings.
...If the district decides to move forward only employees who complete intensive training known as “FASTER” would be permitted to carry a gun.
...School leaders will attend a meeting on January 24, where they will hear more about the program from a member of the Buckeye Firearms Association.
January 6, 2015
NRANews.com - "Cam & Co."
Buckeye Firearms Association Region Leader Sean Maloney was a guest on NRANews.com with NRANews.com's Cam Edwards on Cam & Company.
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