"How John Kasich lost my vote only days before the election" and other letters from gun owners voting freedom first

Buckeye Firearms Association has taken its share of criticism from partisans who don't like our one-issue, non-partisan approach to evaluating, grading and endorsing candidates. But we've also heard from many people who are voting freedom first.

It's Election Day, and we've said all we need to say until the polls close and the results are known. So here are a few examples from what YOU, our members and supporters, have been saying this week:

From: Scott
Date: November 1, 2010

Thank you profoundly for explaining why I, as a law-abiding conservative gun owner, have cast my vote for Ted Strickland.

Having written the letters, having made the phone calls, having participated in three open-carry freedom marches to bring ccw to Ohio, I know only too well the kind of opposition we faced by the Ohio Republican heirarchy.

Mr. Kasich committed the cardinal sin with his vote for the Clinton gun ban, so the onus was on him to match his opponent's pledge to never sign an anti-gun bill into law while Governor of Ohio. This he has refused to do and he has lost my vote. I intend to forward the link of this posting to the Kasich campaign, along with my regrets.

My sincere gratitude to both of you as well as the entire staff of BFA for your efforts and perseverance.

From: Daniel
Date: November 1, 2010

I could not agree with you more: Very early on, sometime before June I compared Kasich to Strickland on everything I could find on the net. What I found was not much info from Kasich. I took it upon myself to drive all the way down to Columbus to the Kasich headquarters for the sole purpose of talking with his campaign staff and find out why he did not have info posted on his position for things like Guns, Abortion, and border issues of immigration, and other social/cultural issues.

I talked with them for a half hour and explained that I just couldn't count on him if he wouldn't fess up to what his stance was on these issues, since I at least knew early on that Strickland was very pro-gun. That last thing we need is another hot-air-balloon full of 'hope and change'. That is exactly what Kasich's campaign has been until about 2-4 weeks ago, whenever it was he decided it was important to address some social issues, because it was getting close and he was counting on a landslide.

You could not have been more correct in describing that Kasich failed to address social and cultural issues like gun control way too late in the game.

From: Robert
Date: November 1, 2010

I read your post on Outdoors Unlimited, regarding John Kasich. I didn't know he was such an anti-gunner. I recall seeing him on Fox News from time to time, but firearms were never mentioned. He appeard to be a good conservative. and most conservatives are pro-gun. I'm glad to know the truth about Kasich. I have two good friends in Youngstown to whom I forwarded this article to. I hope they vote against Kasich. He's never to be trusted when it comes to the Second Amendment! I hope he loses tomorrow!

Thank you for a good and informative article. Keep up the good work in Ohio! Maybe there are enough gun owners to defeat Kasich.

Name: Joe
Date: November 1, 2010

As a small government conservative, I could not see myself voting for Ted Strickland. As a Second Amendment supporter, I could not see myself voting for John Kasich. After a year of trying to see if Kasich had in any way changed his past anti-gun views, I finally had started giving him credit for holding firm to his views and not trying to whitewash them over to appease a pro-gun voter.

Having endured two terms of Gov. Taft and a Republican-controlled Congress consistently saying one thing and doing another, wasting the time and effort of gun rights supporters, always leading me on until after elections it was somewhat refreshing to see a candidate basically saying "my past tells you what I stand for and that is not going to change no matter who I am talking to". A politician who knows where he stands and stands firm to that is the type of person I can respect and work with even if we differ on opinion.

For the past two months I had decided to "hold my gun owning nose" and vote for John Kasich. I was actively working the GOP phone banks, personally walked 3 entire districts and was really holding out hope for this election. This all changed last week. During this last week, John Kasich decided to throw his integrity under the bus as far as I am concerned. After two years of standing firm on his past votes which earned him an 'F' rating from the NRA, John decided to try to fool the uninformed voters by having actual gun rights supporters first calling the 'F' ratings false and then by sending robo-calls highlighting an even older 'A' rating he once held decades before his anti-gun votes ended.

John Kasich, you can not have it both ways. Trying to fool a small percentage of uninformed gun owners instead of continuing to stand firm on your past record has cost you at least one vote, probably more as I gave up working the phones and the streets during the most important days of this election.