DDN readers respond to articles about candidates and guns

By Chad D. Baus

The Dayton Daily News has published three letters to the editor written in response to a recent series of articles by DDN writer Laura Bischoff, who had the opportunity this summer to shoot clay targets and discuss gun issues with both major Ohio gubernatorial candidates.

The first letter was written by Buckeye Firearms Association volunteer Larry S. Moore, who co-wrote an article on this website addressing many of the same points as his letter to the editor.

The second article, written by Toby Hoover, executive director at what seems to be the one-woman show known as the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.

Hoover's comments in her letter to the Dayton Daily News begin like this:

Candidates show true colors on guns

Congrats for showing us the gubernatorial candidates' true colors. It was clear that they have their gun lobby rhetoric memorized.

It is clear Hoover recognizes the new level of failure she as Ohio's (only remaining?) gun ban lobbyist has risen to now that two true Second Amendment supporters have earned the major parties' endorsement for governor.

They say personal information should not be available about those who are carrying loaded weapons in public. Don't be fooled; the information is not personal. It is name, age and county of residence.

Even aside from the battered women, prison guards, etc. who are desperately trying to keep their counties of residence out of the reach of former abusers or ex-cons, one is left to wonder if Hoover wants her age to be broadcast in newspapers across the state?

When asked about self-defense and deadly force, they obviously did not know the contents of HB 541. The bill would allow gun carriers to shoot first, claiming self-defense anywhere they are (they already have the right to defend themselves when their homes are invaded). Be careful how you appear to others, as you might be perceived as a threat.

A yes, more fear and absence of fact from Ms. Hoover. It is she who either does not know or who refuses to admit what is contained in HB541. The major effect of this law is best summarized by saying the presumption of innocence is now in favor of the victim, rather than the bad guy.

Both said they support taking away the right of cities to regulate safety when it comes to guns. They believe state government can decide what's best.

Yes, Hoover must shudder at the thought of all those law-abiding citizens taking their children to parks in Toledo after passage of HB347.

Both answered each question with their canned response about the rights to life and liberty, privacy and the Constitution. Maybe they should have gone to the funerals of Philip Bates in Cincinnati, shot on his front sidewalk, or Masumi Hayashi and John Jackson in Cleveland, who were shot, allegedly because they objected to a neighbor's loud music. They should tell their families about life and liberty or privacy.

Will either of them sit by the bedside of 17-year-old Rachel Barezinsky, who was shot because she acted like a teen, or explain to her family that the "victim" had an unalienable constitutional right to shoot her?

Too bad neither of them cares more about us than they do about the gun lobby.

- Toby Hoover

And finally we come to the propensity for gun ban extremists like Hoover to dance in the blood of criminals' victims, as Ken Hanson predicted they would just last week. Nothing about the positions of these two candidates or the legislation being discussed would have any effect on the ability to prosecute these criminals, and for Hoover to suggest otherwise is, well, almost criminal.