Obama supporter hosts shooting (!) fundraiser for anti-gun Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith Lanzinger

By Chad D. Baus

Gun owners and hunters often feel as though the only time some politicians know where they are is during election season. There can be no better example of this than the following Republican campaign fundraiser announcement:

Please join Justice Maureen O'Connor and Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger for a Pheasant & Quail Hunt hosted by Rocky Saxbe...

To attend the fundraiser, which will be held later this month in Champaign County, donors are asked to give $1000 per candidate ($2000 total) for the hunt and dinner.

But here's the rub. While Justice O'Connor is pro-gun, and a long-time friend of this PAC, the same cannot be said for the other Republican candidate involved in this fundraiser, nor can it be said of the event host.

In Ohioans for Concealed Carry v. City of Clyde, Justice Lanzinger joined the minority opinion and voted against gun owners. In that case, Lanzinger put her name on an opinion which compared the Constitutional right to self-defense/gun ownership to that of the rights of dog owners or beer-drinkers, propped up the notion that government should have the same rights as an individual citizen, and supported the conclusion that gun owners are a threat to society.

A little over one year after signing onto that anti-gun opinion, however, it is election season. And what do you know? Justice Lanzinger seems to have found a new respect for gun owners...or at least, for their pocketbooks.

The host of the fundraiser should also raise eyebrows among gun owners and sportsmen. Republican Charles "Rocky" Saxby, a Columbus lawyer and owner of Van Darby Club (where the event will be held), bucked his party and supported the candidacy of Barack Obama, who is arguably the most anti-gun president in our nation's history.

If you decide to take the time to contact the campaign, let them know that you believe Justice Lanzinger has no business benefiting from shooters' dollars, given her vote on the Clyde case,. Tell them gun owners will instead be supporting pro-gun candidates like Justice Maureen O'Connor.

To share your thoughts or concerns, contact Pamela Hashem at 614-824-6250 or via email at [email protected].

Chad Baus is Vice Chairman of Buckeye Firearms Association, and a Member of the Fulton County, OH, Republican Central Committee.