Headline: As if on cue, Ohio Dems roll out same old anti-gun proposals

by Joe D. "Buck" Ruth

6:00am Friday, February 16, 2024

One thing you can count on: Anti-gun legislators won't let a crisis go to waste when it comes to shoring up their base with nonsense gun control legislation.

As reported by 10TV and others, Democratic lawmakers led their first Gun Violence Prevention Summit at the Ohio Statehouse on Feb. 15, moderated by state Rep. Jessica Miranda, D-Forest Park. By the way, Miranda has an F rating by the Buckeye Firearms Association PAC as "Someone who has a terrible voting record, is openly hostile toward our rights, and/or has worked or helped others to restrict our rights."

No doubt the shooting in Kansas City this week served as the ideal opportunity for them to jump into action.

On hand were representatives from gun-safety advocacy groups, law enforcement, and the judicial system, focusing on ways, they say, would curb gun violence in this state.

As 10TV reported:

“There is a need to address the issue of gun violence that is clearly evident in our nation, our communities, every day gun violence is hurting families and creating everlasting trauma that we could instead be preventing through gun safety legislation,” (Miranda) said. …

Democrats introduced a package of five bills to tackle gun violence at the summit including Keeping Our Survivors Safe Act, declaring gun violence a public health crisis, commonsense concealed carry, universal background checks and creating an Ohio task force on gun violence. …

Michelle Heym, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, is eager to see action on gun violence. She lived near Sandy Hook when 26 people were shot and killed in the tragic shooting in 2012.

“I always have faith, maybe I am a little naïve, but I feel like 80% of the people in our state want background checks. They want extreme risk protection orders, they want limits on guns, people possessing firearms who are going to be a danger to themselves or others,” Heym said.

We're sure Heym is eager. That's the anti-gun pipe dream — punish law-abiding gun owners in hopes that it somehow will magically stop lawbreakers from breaking the law.

We could focus on the whole lot of nonsense proposals, but let's hone in on just one: universal background checks. After all, they sound good, right?

But as John Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center pointed out last year, the devil is in the details.

As the CPRC reported in March 2023, it hired McLaughlin & Associates to survey people’s views on universal background checks, starting with the standard question asked by survey groups such as Gallup and Morning Consult+Politico but then gradually adding details about the laws that are often left out of those surveys.

First question: "Do you support or oppose requiring background checks on all gun sales or transfers?" The response was that 70% strongly support them and only 5% strongly oppose.

But then the CPRC added to it:

Let's say a stalker is threatening a female friend of yours late on a Saturday night. She asks you if she can borrow your handgun until she has a chance to buy one. She is trained and has no criminal record. If you loaned her the gun, this law would make you a felon. Would you support or oppose this law?

The support plummeted to 24% strongly favoring it and 27% strongly opposing it.

Roughly the same response was given to this question:

A Boy Scout troop is going for their skeet shooting badges. If you lend the Scout master your shotguns, you would be committing a felony. Would you support or oppose this law?

Twenty-four percent stronly support it; 29% strongly oppose it.

As I noted back in November, I was in a meeting once when a high-level manager said, "Don't just do something; sit there." The idea is that an action based on anecdotal evidence could lead to much greater consequences later.

Restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners to defend themselves, their families, and their homes would do nothing to deter abusers of those rights from unlawful and irresponsible actions. This country's elected federal, state, and local leaders must adhere to the Constitution while getting to the real heart of the matter and stop with the useless virtue signaling that does nothing but help fund their campaigns at election time.

We cannot allow them to restrict our rights so they can forward a false sense of security — which secures nobody.

The good news: These ideas likely aren't going anywhere in this state legislature. However, this is why it is critical that you know where candidates stand, and Buckeye Firearms Association has that figured out for you when it comes to gun rights. Check out our 2024 BFA-PAC Grades and Endorsements for the Ohio Primary.

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