Posted on 05/30/2008 5:24:29 AM PDT by marktwain
Ted Stricklands first gun was a Roy Rogers cap pistol, like the ones the cowboys use, he said this week.
After that, the governor remembers shooting squirrels and rabbits with a .22-caliber rifle.
From that foundation, Strickland has supported gun rights in a way a lot of other Democrats haventbefore it was trendy.
Its been a tough couple of years for Toby Hoover. More than three decades ago, her first husband was murdered during a hardware store robbery, and since then, shes fought to spread the message that putting more guns into more hands would make Ohio a violent and scary place to live.
You might think that Hoover, as a victim, would be someone a politician could safely rally behind. But as NRA-backed legislation that would loosen Ohios gun laws moved through the Statehouse this week, Hoovers phone has stayed pretty quiet.
Theyre not asking my opiniontheyd rather skirt the issue during election season, said Hoover, a Toledo native and director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence. Hoover has spent the better part of the last 30 years fighting laws that make it easier for people to carry guns in Ohioincluding the states concealed-carry law, which was signed in 2004.
Since then, her coalition has unsuccessfully pushed for measures that would require background checks for all who purchase weapons at private gun shows, as well as efforts to child-proof guns, keep them out of juveniles hands and allow local governments to pass gun violence prevention laws.
State officeholders would be well ahead of the game if they backed such reasonable steps to control guns without taking them away from law-abiding owners, Hoover said last week.
I dont know why they cant say theyre willing to do that, she said.
Part of that reluctance, at least recently, may stem from a Democratic governor. For the first time in recent history, Ohio is run by a guy who gets really good grades from the NRA.
In years past, Gun owners watched as gun bill after good gun bill either died or was watered down in a GOP-controlled legislature, wrote Chad Baus, a member of the Fulton County Republican Central Committee and vice chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, in a blog posted on the groups website.
For 16 years, Republican lawmakers found it necessary to go slow on gun laws in order to appease their partys governor, whether it be Bob Taft, a Cincinnati native, or George Voinovich, former mayor of Cleveland, Baus said.
But unlike his big-city predecessors, Strickland hails from Duck Run in rural Southern Ohio, where toting a gun is a natural extension of a hardscrabble upbringing.
Strickland may have had his finger on the pulse of the common man back in 1994. During his first term in Congress, Strickland voted against President Clintons Brady Bill and assault weapons ban while most of his Democratic colleagues in the Congress supported it. That November, Republicans swept out the congressional Democratsincluding Strickland himself, who won his seat back two years later.
Although Hoover and other anti-gun activists say that only a small fraction of voters pick a candidate based on their Second Amendment views, Strickland blames his partys stance on gun control for the loss.
From my perspective, there is a growing recognition of the validity and the importance of Second Amendment rights than existed 10 years ago, Strickland said. Party leadership has recognized that pushing the gun control agenda resulted in the 94 loss of Congressand not regaining it until a dozen years later.
As a result, Strickland said, Nationally there is a greater tolerance for rights of gun owners within the party.
Such tolerance has not yet been extended by Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman. Coleman opposes current efforts by the state legislature to relax gun laws, including a 19-point amendment to Senate Bill 184, known as the Castle Doctrine, which strengthens a persons legal right to use deadly force if someone breaks into their house or car.
The amendments would allow anyone to carry a gun in their vehicle, whether they had a conceal-carry permit or not. It also would prevent landlords from banning guns in their apartments, and prevent law enforcement officers from seizing legally owned firearms during natural disasters or other emergencies.
Coleman has long believed that looser gun restrictions are a detriment to urban areas and that cities should be allowed to exercise local control over firearm regulations.
The flow of guns into streets leads to violence, said Mike Brown, the mayors spokesman.
Urban and rural areas have different views of gun control, he said. The mayor has said many times that there are no deer at Broad and High.
In 2005, Columbus City Council passed a citywide assault weapons ban that made it a first degree misdemeanor to buy or sell semiautomatic rifles in the city. The move was praised by the FOP, but the NRA opposed the measure, eventually yanking the 2007 NRA convention from Columbus and moving it to St. Louis.
Last year, sweeping firearms reform at the state level trumped Columbus citywide assault weapons ban. Despite cries from Columbus officials, the city law was eventually removed from the books.
Strickland said hes not blind to urban violence. He just doesnt think that firearms restrictions will solve the problem.
I understand the trauma experienced in so many communities as a result of the violence associated with firearm use, Strickland said. But theres no reason to believe that the kind of person who kills another human being with a gun would adhere to gun laws.
Theyll always have access, he said.
As if the governors support wasnt enough good news for gun activists, another Democrat is helping make gun control even more unpopular.
Prior to the Pennsylvania presidential primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton touted her own affection for pulling the trigger, drawing a contrast with Sen. Barack Obamas comment that small-town, rural voters cling to guns and religion. Clinton said Obamas remarks were elitist and out-of-touch, while also describing a fond memory from her youth:
You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught me how to shoot when I was a little girl, she said last month during a speech in Indiana.
Ohio firearms supporters have recently shared Clintons characterization of the anti-gun crowd. The Buckeye Firearms website takes aim at the elitist union leaders at the Fraternal Order of Police.
Its very elitist to tell people what rights you think we should have, said Jim Irvine, the groups director.
Most politicians and urban dwellers have never handled a gun and therefore have an unnecessary fear of firearms.
Mayor Coleman doesnt know which end of a gun the bullet comes out of, Irvine said. But firearms could go a long way to protect law-abiding residents from crime.
Criminals are lazy. They go after the easy targets, he said. There may not be a deer at Broad and High, but there could just as easily be a 300-pound 6-foot-tall animal of a person waiting to attack.
The Fraternal Order of Police takes issue with the elitist characterization.
Our organization and our members take offense to the childish comments from the Buckeye Firearms Association, said Mark Drum, legislative chairman of the FOP of Ohio, in a press release.
The Fraternal Order of Police is committed to working with the Ohio General Assembly in a productive manner to genuinely address those sections of current law that need clarified and not make unnecessary changes which substantially increase the risk of law enforcement.
Strickland, a Clinton supporter, said he does not agree with the elitist label slapped on gun-control backers, but he does think their position can be politically problematic.
There has been a recognition nationally that the partys stance on gun control was polarizing and it was damaging the ability of the Democratic party to exercise leadership on things like health care, education and the environment, the governor said.
The leadership at national level decided they were no longer going to make gun control a major position embraced by the national party, he said. But there are individuals who continue to push such an agenda.
Coleman, Strickland said, is just trying to do what he thinks is right for his city.
I would never choose to criticize any political leader who may have a different position.
The governor doesnt have much time to hunt these days, he said, and doesnt need to keep a gun in the governors mansion for personal safety reasons.
Quite frankly, Im pretty well protected by the Ohio Highway Patrol.
Rather than arguments about elitism, Strickland would prefer to direct the conversation toward making communities safer by reducing poverty and unemployment.
The issue of public safety is very complex and involves a lot of social factors, he said. In my judgment prevention of these things would be more effective than just simply passing a law.
Ohio legislators had a chance to do that this week. The bill passed the House Criminal Justice Committee Tuesday, and was expected to pass the full House Wednesday afternoon. The bill, without amendments, passed unanimously in the Senate earlier this year.
Were talking to various stakeholder groups, Strickland said Tuesday. My hope is that we will come out with a final bill we can embrace and sign into law.
The Gun is Civilization
by Marko Kloos of the
Munchkin Wrangler blog
....Thanks for the great post.
The Fraternal Order of Police is committed to working with the Ohio General Assembly in a productive manner to genuinely address those sections of current law that need clarified and not make unnecessary changes which substantially increase the risk of law enforcement.
Gee, he is concerned with how to protect the government from the people. And there lies a problem.
My simple answer is no.
“Reasonable restrictions will lead to confiscation, which I hope will lead to our second Big Bang.”
Populism is merely socialism by another name. We should leave levelling to the Jacobins.
***Our organization and our members take offense to the childish comments from the Buckeye Firearms Association, said Mark Drum, legislative chairman of the FOP of Ohio, in a press release.***
So they don’t like the truth. Aw, poor baby
No worse than The Dispatch. In fact, lately, The Dispatch has been worse than The Other Paper on RKBA issues.
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