Kasich Campaign Desperate to Spay/Neuter the Gun Vote

by Ken Hanson

Conspicuously absent from almost all Kasich-Taylor campaigning before mid-October was any mention of firearm/hunting/sporting rights. There is a simple explanation for this. John Kasich's record on firearm rights is horrible.

He is not being dinged for a single vote, or a few votes. Rather, Kasich has earned the ire of every state-based firearm group based upon many of his official, anti-gun votes, and Ted Strickland has earned the endorsement of EVERY state-based firearm group and the NRA based upon his vibrant history of pro-gun voting.

The Second Amendment was not even on the Kasich-Taylor campaign's radar screen back in August, when Kasich was ahead in the polls by double digits. Nope, guns don't matter, only jobs.

Fast forward to late October, when the race is a statistical dead heat, and all of a sudden Kasich is finding religion like a nervous whore in church on Sunday. Exhibit A is a recent mailer targeted at gun owners.

Note the picture on page 2 of the mailer. A hunter in blaze orange in the middle of a field with a medium bore, scoped rifle.

Tell us, Sportsman Kasich, what is this sportsman hunting in Ohio, since rifle hunting of that sort is not legal here?

And while you are at it, please explain why page 3 of the mailer, talking about private industry and health care, is a pro-gun counter-point to all your anti-gun, pro-gun control votes?

In case you, the voter, are wondering what Exhibit B in the Kasich anti-gun hypocrisy is, consider the recent election complaint filed on Kasich's behalf, complaining that Strickland is pointing out Kasich's "F" rating from the NRA without mentioning the date he earned it.

"NOT TRUE!!" screams the Kasich camp, while page 4 of their current mailer boasts of Kasich's (even more ancient) endorsement from the NRA.

John, if you can claim 20 year-old endorsements from the NRA in your mailers, then it is just as legitimate for Strickland to point out your past "F" rating from the NRA in his campaign communications.

We aren't fooled.

[UPDATE: The Ohio Elections Commission has found "no probable cause" to support Kasich/Bubp's false accusations that Strickland lied. Strickland campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith celebrated this morning's ruling.

"Today, the Kasich campaign's worst nightmare was realized when the Ohio Elections Commission ruled today that Kasich did indeed receive an 'F' from the NRA and that our campaign had been truthful. By elevating this issue with an election commission's complaint and losing, the Kasich campaign has called more attention to Kasich's horrible record on the Second Amendment," she said.]

Ken Hanson is a gun rights attorney in Ohio. He serves as the Legislative Chair for Buckeye Firearms Association, and is the attorney of record for Buckeye Firearms Foundation, which filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases. The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has awarded him with its 2008 Defender of Justice Award and 2009 Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award. He is the author of The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws, a certified firearms instructor and holds a Type 01 Federal Firearms License.