Strickland to Ohio gun owners: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

One day after the National Rifle Association endorsed "Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin for President and Vice President respectively", Barack Obama attempted to continue his efforts to hide his anti-gun record from voters.

News outlets across the nation on Friday reported on Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's attempts to assure gun owners that they have nothing to fear from an Obama administration.

Strickland, the NRA "A"-rated governor who is also a former Buckeye Firearms Association endorsee, told the press that "as a result of direct conversations that I've had with Barack Obama, if you are a sportsman, if you are a gun owner, if you are someone that honors and respects the Second Amendment - you have nothing to fear from Barack Obama and I want you to spread the word throughout this great part of our great state."

The mantra heard repeatedly across this state over the weekend has been "you have nothing to fear. Spread the word. Ted Strickland said so."

When Ted Strickland picked vehemently anti-gun Lee Fisher as a running mate, we did not worry - because we knew where Strickland stood on our issue, and that Fisher was not going to change him.

Likewise, we know where former Joyce Foundation board member Obama stands on our issue, and no amount of glowing comments from Governor Strickland will change the fact that Obama is a grave enemy to all gun owners. Hunters. Trap and Skeet shooters. Competitive shooters. Concealed carry license-holders. Plinkers. And most of all anyone who would use a gun to defend themselves or their family.

When then-Congressman Strickland took John Kerry goose hunting, we recognized it for what it was - an obligatory photo op by a popular pro-gun Democrat to help a fellow anti-gun Democrat look less dangerous. It didn't work because, well, we all remember Obama's "lipstick on a pig" reference, don't we?

Even if we could ignore Obama's record of anti-gun votes as an Illinois legislator in favor of his campaign rhetoric, his opposition to concealed carry, expressed while he campaigned for President last April, makes one wonder who Strickland is talking to when he says there is "nothing to fear."

"I am not in favor of concealed weapons," Obama told the Pittsburgh Tribune last spring. "I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations."

If Ted Strickland really can change Obama's mind on guns, then perhaps he should be the one running for President. The skills of turning an enemy, who has a life-long track record of being hostile to the rights of law-abiding Americans would be quite useful when dealing with our terrorist foes.

The truth is, Barack Obama has an absolutely abysmal record regarding guns. He is a strong supporter of the worst gun control initiatives imaginable, and nothing our good friend Governor Strickland says can change that fact, or hide the anti-gun Senator behind the curtain.

UPDATE: The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence "with its network of Million Mom March Chapters" has announced its endorsement of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

So while Governor Strickland claims we have nothing to fear from Barack Obama, the Brady bunch (as well as the anti-hunting Humane Society of the U.S. and faux gun group American Hunters and Shooters Association) remains more than confident that he supports their extremist agenda.