Issue 1: Where's the outcry over these major 60% (or higher) organizations?

by Joe D. "Buck" Ruth

6:00am Friday, July 28, 2023

It's stunning (not really) the level of hypocrisy these extreme progressives will go to just to get their way.

How undemocratic it is, they say, that Buckeye Firearms Association and other Issue 1 supporters want a 60% majority to amend the Ohio Constitution.

Yet the very bylaws and constitutions of many of those organizations opposed to Issue 1 require the same threshold — if not higher.

Here are three examples from groups publicly opposing Issue 1:

Ohio Democratic Party

In the Ohio Democratic Party's Constitution and By-Laws, Article Four, Section 1, states:

This Constitution may be amended by sixty (60%) percent of all delegates to any Convention.

American Civil Liberties Union

The major so-called beacon of liberty, of which ACLU Ohio is a chapter, also requires a two-thirds vote for changes. According to its foundation bylaws:

The undersigned Secretary of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, a New York, not-for-profit corporation, certifies that the foregoing is a true copy of the By-laws of the Foundation, duly adopted by a two-thirds vote of all of the members of the Foundation …

League of Women Voters

The national organization's bylaws define what it takes to change them, and many of Ohio's local chapters, such as Columbus and Hudson, for example, have followed suit.

Per Article XII, Section 2(D):

A two-thirds vote is required to amend or adopt a national League position by concurrence on the floor of convention.

Here's what the LWV of Metropolitan Columbus' bylaws say in Article XIII:

These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the voting members present and voting at the Annual Meeting, provided the amendments were submitted to the membership in writing at least one month in advance of the meeting.

And this from the LWV of Hudson chapter in Article XII:

These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the voting members present and voting at the Annual Meeting, using the following procedures:

a) Proposed amendments shall be submitted to the Board of Directors at least two months prior to the Annual Meeting

b) All such proposed amendments together with the recommendation of the Board shall be sent to all members at least one month prior to the Annual Meeting.

Their REAL reason for opposition

As BFA executive director Dean Rieck pointed out, "leftist and progressive political activists are projecting their own motives onto others, accusing them of doing what they themselves are guilty of."

Make no mistake. It's not the 60% threshold itself these hypocritical extremist organizations oppose, obviously. They can't get legislation they want passed through the Ohio General Assembly, so their workaround is to impose their will by way of amendments to the Ohio Constitution. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb recently admitted this on video.

Constitutions are designed to outline the limits of government, not advance its power. We've seen firsthand, not just from Bibb but others, too, that they want to violate that principle and give more power to municipal governments so that they can lord it over law-abiding gun owners, even though they continue to fail in their own cities to stop violent crimes that are being committed by those who aren't legally allowed to own firearms in the first place.

Why else would Everytown For Gun Safety and Ohio Students for Gun Legislation throw their support behind the Issue 1 "Vote NO" pack?

Some say even if these gun-grabbers were successful at getting gun control into the constitution, the Supreme Court of the United States would strike it down? But would it really? And what if a sitting president and willing U.S. Senate were to decide the high court is too small and needs to be padded to 11, 13, or even 15 justices — of their political persuasion, of course?

Ignore the opposition's duplicity and help protect the Ohio Constitution by voting YES on Issue 1 on or before Aug. 8.

Joe D. "Buck" Ruth is a longtime small-game hunter and gun owner who spent nearly three decades in the news industry.