Cuyahoga County Republican Party Rescinds “Gun Control” Language

By Jim Irvine and Chris Chumita

At their Central Committee meeting on Wednesday night, the Cuyahoga County Republican Party acted quickly to remove the words “gun controls” from the proposed party platform.

Before the platform committee report, Chairman Rob Frost stated that he did not know how those words were added. He noted that he received the letter from Buckeye Firearms about it, and heard from many people who were upset about it, and he would make the first motion to amend the platform to remove the words “gun controls” from the platform.

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While this story is about a Republican County party meeting, it could equally apply to a State or a National Party meeting, and is applicable to any party.

As important as it is to learn from mistakes, we should also examine the lessons learned when everything goes your way. It would be wonderful if we never had another such fight, but it would quite naive.

Lesson 1:
Pay attention. If you are going to solve problems, you have to know what they are. You need to be informed. If you don’t have the time to be involved, than make sure you are part of a group that will let you know about the really important stuff. If you do not search for the news daily, make sure you are on a news list. Most groups have weekly email lists.

Lesson 2:
Be involved. You make a difference. You either stand for what is right, or you allow that which is wrong. Everyone has some time; it’s just a matter of priorities. When we act together, we write our own script.

Lesson 3:
Every vote counts. Many votes taken during this meeting were decided by less than 5 votes. (The gun issue was almost unanimous) The General election in November is but one of many important decisions decided by those that take the time to vote. Every election, candidates win or lose by a smaller margin of votes than you could deliver for them. Party politics can be just as close, and if you don’t vote, you don’t matter.

Lesson 4:
Grassroots still matter. Before the meeting we were asked, “Are you ready for a fight?” We answered, “No. There will not be any fight. We already won.” Such is the power when the grassroots get involved. Of course it helped greatly that leadership listened to our concerns, but even if they were 100% against us, they knew that “gun control” was not going to survive when put to a vote of the crowd at hand. Just like a criminal encounter, often times being prepared for a battle insures you never have to fight one.

Big Picture:
The facts are on our side. We have a strong majority, and we're getting stronger. We have everything required to win every battle we face, if we are willing to fight. The only reason we ever lose a battle is because our fellow pro-gun brothers refuse to get involved.

Gerard Valentino recently had his essay, “Pacifism. A Refuge of the Simple Minded” published in Concealed Carry magazine. (Also available on our website here). Pacifism during an attack can get you killed. Pacifism during an attack on your rights can get you killed too. But when we act, when we take a stand to defend our rights, we win. Every time.

Special thanks go to NRA-EVC’s Ron Lissy and Wayne Capka. They helped spread the word among pro-gun people on the Central Committee. Mr. Capka had an amendment ready to offer to insert language supporting our Second Amendment rights into the platform. Due to discussion on many other issues, that amendment was not offered before another motion to table the entire platform passed. We will work with the party to have good language inserted into the party platform.

While Buckeye Firearms is a one issue PAC, none of us are one issue people. There are many things that are important to us. Being involved in the political process, you will find others who share your beliefs on a broad range of issues. By working together we can help each other on many different issues.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the political process this week, the list is long. We would like to especially note web sites and bloggers. These outlets can reach millions of people in hours without needing to spend enormous sums of money. In spite of the efforts of McCain-Feingold, this ensures the political process is “for the people, by the people.”

Here is a list of some blog sites that supported our effort this week. They do the same great work on a multitude of issues on a continual basis. Please let us know if you blogged about this on your site and we did not mention you.

King's Right Site: RPCC Platform Should Be Rejected.

King's Right Site: Cuyahoga County Republican Party's Anti-Gun Platform.

Viking Spirit's Blog: Proposed Cuyahoga County GOP Platform Is Anti-Gun.

Right Angle Blog: Robert Frost And Other Anti-Gun Liberals In The Cuyahoga County GOP

Get involved:
Do you want to have a say in how your party runs, and the candidates it endorses? Would you like to have the power of 500 voters? It’s easy, free, and takes very little time. Become a precinct committee person and become part of your party's Central Committee.

Related Story:
Cuyahoga County Republican Party’s Anti-Gun Platform