Plain Dealer's "PolitiFact" survey finds Governor Kasich has stood by his campaign promises on people's gun rights

by Jim Irvine

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has an interesting series called "PolitiFact," where they look at past events/statements and follow up on them to see how they look after some time has passed. I like the idea, and have found many of these to be quite interesting and informative. Recently the newspaper took a look at Governor John Kasich (R) and his statements that he made in support of the Second Amendment while campaigning for the office of Governor.

The "Kasich-O-Meter" takes a look at Kasich's campaign statement that he would "oppose restrictions on gun rights."

They quote Kasich as saying:

"I believe in the 2nd Amendment. Everybody has the right to keep and bear arms to either protect your family, protect yourselves, to be a hunter. The 2nd amendment is part of that Constitution. It's something I believe in. And, we're going to stand firm, very firm, for 2nd Amendment rights here in the state of Ohio.

The Plain Dealer does properly note that Governor Kasich has signed three good gun bills in his first two years. HB54, sponsored by Representative Ron Maag corrected the defect in Ohio's restoration statutes. Now our restorations are honored by the federal government and are effective. SB17, sponsored by Senator Tim Schaffer, allowed CHL holders to carry firearms in locations that serve alcohol, provided the license holder is not under the influence and not consuming any alcohol. HB495 sponsored by Representative Terry Johnson eliminated the "demonstrated competency" requirement for renewals and corrected an incorrect definition of a loaded firearm in a vehicle. All three bills contained very important improvements for Ohio gun owners.

Kasich did not sign any anti-gun legislation, nor did he veto any pro-Second Amendment legislation. One could note that he didn't have the chance to, which is correct. But if we are taking a full look at his actions, it must also be noted that he did not play political games to delay/kill good legislation. Neither did he work to have legislators kill good amendments or insert bad amendments, a common tactic when a governor is anti-gun, but too much of a coward to admit his true feelings (e.g. Bob Taft).

By comparison, Governor Ted Strickland (D) only signed one pro-gun bill in his first two years. Strickland signed SB184, which contained "Castle Doctrine" and a host of other improvements to Ohio's concealed carry laws. Taken as a whole, it did make more improvements than the combined three bills that Kasich signed. So one could argue that Strickland's positive impact for gun owners was larger than Kasich in the first two years of their respective Governorship. But Strickland signed no significant legislation in his final two year session, and appointed an anti-gun rights judge to the Ohio Supreme Court before leaving office. Kasich will almost certainly be presented with the opportunity to sign additional legislation before he is up for re-election in 2014.

It is important to note that it is impossible to make a true side by comparison of the two governors. Strickland inherited a disastrous set of firearms laws from Governor Bob Taft. It was easy to make 15 significant improvements. Kasich inherited much different (improved) laws, and signed common sense legislation (which the anti-self-defense groups aided by the media worked hard to make controversial).

The Plain Dealer noted:

The previous year, Kasich signed a law that allowed permit holders to carry firearms in all of Ohio's Class D licensed liquor establishments, which include bars, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping malls, museums and sports stadiums.

Critics of that law said it will just invite trouble; that a stadium or arena was no place for a gun. Supporters said the law has merely brought Ohio up to speed with 42 other states that already allow gun owners to carry a hidden firearm in restaurants. Most states, though, do not allow carrying in bars and stadiums. In fact, only a handful of states, Tennessee and Arizona among them, have concealed carry laws as broad as Ohio's law in terms of where gun owners can carry.

If the Plain Dealer wanted an interesting series, they could take a look at the statements by John Gilchrist of the Ohio Chiefs of Police Association, Mike Weinman of the Ohio FOP, and other anti-self-defense individuals. The law has been in effect for over a year, and has worked exactly the way we predicted it would work. There has not been the sort of "trouble" that those opposed insisted would be common.

The Plain Dealer fails to mention that most states allow license holders to consume alcohol while carrying firearms, as long as they are not intoxicated. Ohio has a much stricter "zero tolerance" law, and felony penalties for infractions that are misdemeanors in most states. An honest look at the scope of our restaurant law will show Ohio to be far more restrictive than most other states.

There is no doubt that in his first two years, Governor Kasich has indeed stood firm for Second Amendment rights. But more important is the fact that he has not signed any bills containing dangerous provisions. He has signed all three common-sense firearms related bills that were presented to him. If there is any doubt how Ohioans feel about the new bills, one need only look at the record concealed carry numbers recently released by Attorney General Mike DeWine to see that while the bills are hated by the Plain Dealer, they are enjoyed by a record number of Ohio voters. That fact may serve the Governor well next November.

Jim Irvine is the Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman, and recipient of the NRA-ILA's 2011 "Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award" and the CCRKBA's 2012 "Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award."