Cuyahoga County Republican Party's Anti-Gun Platform

By Jim Irvine

The Cuyahoga County Republican Party is holding a meeting on Wednesday, July 25th to adopt the
party platform. A platform is a basic template
of ideas the party openly supports. Candidates
are encouraged (sometimes pressured) to take
positions in agreement with the platform, though
they are not required to be 100% in agreement.

The draft which has been sent to Central
Committee members for approval contains shocking and disturbing goals for gun owners. They seek to “Oppose the efforts to curtail constitutional home rule in such areas as…gun control…”

Click on "Read More" for the entire story and Buckeye Firearms Association’s response.

Just last year, we fought hard to pass HB347. For the first time in almost 30 years in Ohio, there was a veto override to enact new law. Every Republican member of the House voted for that veto override, even though they were overriding their own party's Governor. That is a strong statement.

A crucial part of HB347 was to establish that firearms rules are uniform throughout Ohio. No longer could cities ban guns because they were too big, or too small, or too accurate, or not accurate enough, or too affordable. No longer could cities like Cleveland, and their anti-gun mayors, continue with their registration schemes that charge residents fees and confiscate their guns if they have not received permission to have one in their own home.

To us, “gun control” is putting the second bullet through the hole the first bullet made. But that is not what the party is talking about when they want to stop efforts to remove “gun control.” They are advocating for Mayor Jackson (D), who declared that he, “doesn’t care about state law” at a press conference, and was bragging that he was instructing officers to violate state law as he announced his lawsuit against the state.

Cuyahoga County is the most populace county in
Ohio, and thus has enormous political clout. It
should also be noted that Chairman Bob Bennett
resides in Cuyahoga County, and no doubt was part of crafting this platform. It is clear from these actions that Bob Taft was not the last gun-hater in the Republican Party.

Buckeye Firearms Association has sent a letter to
County Chairman Rob Frost informing him of our
opposition to this plank in his platform. (Download a copy of the letter to the Chairman in .pdf format)

We have also mailed every member of the Cuyahoga County Central Committee a copy of our letter and asked for their support in defeating this anti-freedom platform, and inserting strong
language in support of your Second Amendment rights. (Download a copy of the letter to committee members in .pdf format)

Now that we have a pro-gun Democratic Governor in Ted Strickland, it will be interesting to see if
the Republicans, who still have control of the
Ohio House and Senate, are willing to pass good
firearms legislation for him to sign. The leaders in Cuyahoga County seem to be saying they want to join Mike DeWine and Betty Montgomery as incumbents who are replaced with Democrats who
understand and support your rights.

Cuyahoga County is a crucial battleground; for
where Cuyahoga goes, the rest of the party will follow. Any party taking an open shot at our recent success, and stating that they want to repeal our gains and institute more gun control, is not acceptable. That is precisely where the Republican Party is headed.

Buckeye Firearms Association will work with our
friends within the party to defeat this dangerous plank.

This also illustrates the importance of being involved in the political process. No matter
what party you belong to, consider becoming part
of their Central Committee, also called precinct
committee persons. That gives you a vote at the
meeting where the final decision will be made.

We have made great progress in the past few years, and now is not the time to rest. Because
of your support, Buckeye Firearms can fight for
your rights anywhere they are threatened.

UPDATE: The Cuyahoga County Republican Party rescinded the “Gun Control” language from the proposed platform! You can read about it here!