House Bill 158, which seeks to add instructors who are certified to teach courses that meet the requirements of Ohio's concealed handgun license (CHL) law to the list of persons who are exempted from paying a fee to obtain a CHL, has been added to the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security agenda for proponent, opponent and interested party testimony, Tuesday, February 9 at 3:00pm in Statehouse Hearing Room 122.

The purpose for Tuesday's hearing is so that the committee may hear testimony on HB158 from any persons who wish to weigh in on the legislation.

The bill has been co-sponsored by Reps. John Adams (R), Dan Dodd (D), Lorraine Fende (D), Tom Letson (D), Dennis Murray (D), and Mark Okey (D).

For more information on HB158, see: Rep. John Domenick introduces HB158, seeks to waive CHL fees for certified instructors.

For a complete list of legislation which we are tracking in the 128th General Assembly, visit the Buckeye Firearms Association Legislation Guide.

By Chad D. Baus

For the better part of the past year, Buckeye Firearms Association has been warning against the potential re-emergence of Mike DeWine into Ohio politics.

We've warned that this is the same Mike DeWine who was thrown out of his U.S. Senate seat by voters in 2006, after running around sporting a Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control Inc.) endorsement because "his record really wowed the group."

We've cautioned that this is the same Mike DeWine who Human Events Online named among the Top 10 anti-gun U.S. Senators, noting that he was "consistently the only Republican to speak in favor of anti-2nd Amendment legislation on the Senate floor."

We've reminded that this is the same Mike DeWine who, shortly before his defeat in 2006, took a position in opposition to legislation which barred gun manufacturers, distributors, dealers or importers from frivolous lawsuits designed to put them out of business.

We've observed that this is the same Mike DeWine who consistently cast his votes on the side of the most rabid anti-gun Democrats in the Senate.

We've written op-eds and distributed flyers. Our organization even made the largest donation we've ever made to a single candidate to his then-primary opponent, Dave Yost.

But the fact is, far too few people have even begun paying attention to the 2010 races. I have had conversations in the past few days with people who are general "up" on national politics, who had no idea that DeWine was even back on the scene, let alone emerging as the Ohio GOP's nominee for attorney general. (And trust me, they weren't pleased when they heard the news.)

March 15 is the deadline for all essays

Ohio youth turkey hunters can enter to win a dream hunt with Governor Ted Strickland or nationally-known hunting guides during the Governor's Celebrity and Youth Turkey Hunt according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife.

To enter the contest, Ohio youth hunters must write an essay on the topic, "My Best Hunt Ever." The essay must be typed and limited to 300 words. Youth hunters between the ages of 14 to 17 years old before March 1, 2010 are eligible to participate. All entries must be sent to the Division of Wildlife via the electronic submission form available at wildohio.com. Email entries will not be accepted. Past essay winners are not eligible to participate. Entries must be submitted by March 15.

By Ken Hanson, Esq.

Akron Pizza Shop Summer 2004

Our readers will remember the horrific July 2004 beating of Joseph Scarpino by convicted felon Mark Jones which occurred while Mr. Scarpino waited in line at DaVinci's Pizza Shop in Akron.

Mr. Jones was, at the time he administered the unprovoked beating, on two years probation for possession of cocaine and marijuana trafficking.

For those who do not remember, the video of the beating will surely jog your memory. (In perverse media fashion, this video-taped beating made a CBS News "Best of 2005" list.)

Even more horrifying than the beating of Mr. Scarpino was the reaction of the seven patrons present in the pizza shop during the beating - patrons who witnessed the entire exchange from start to finish. Their reaction? Ignore it.

This apathy played large in the media at the time, as Ohio just passed, after nearly 12 years of debate, a concealed carry law full of poison pills, and licenses were just then being issued, allowing the small number of initial, first-wave applicants to brave the terms of the burdensome law and go out into public while armed.

Mark Jones was convicted of felonious assault in February 2005 for the beating and sentenced to four years in prison. (As felonious assault carries a minimum two-year and maximum eight-year sentence in Ohio, Mr. Jones didn't even reach the mid-range sentence of five years.) This would ordinarily be the end of a typical "if only an armed person had been present to stop the offender" story. However, while researching this case a little further in response to a class I taught, I discovered the story does not end there.

In a year when one word, "fewer," described life in America -- fewer jobs, fewer home sales, fewer purchases -- hunters were responsible for generating a welcome "more" category, as hunting license sales rose by 3.5 percent in 2009 in states that make up NSSF's Hunting License Sales Index.

The 12-state index comprises several states from four main regions of the United States. Nine of those states recorded hunting license sales increases from January through December of 2009 over the previous year, according to Southwick Associates, a research firm that monitored the license sales information.

By Chad D. Baus

Amidst news that unemployment rose in most cities in December comes word that some people are opposed to a new business bringing jobs into their Columbus neighborhood.

Outdoor writer and hunter education instructor Larry S. Moore, a long-time volunteer leader for Buckeye Firearms Association and winner of the 2005 USSA Patriot Award and 2007 League of Ohio Sportsmen/Ohio Wildlife Federation Hunter Educator of the Year, offered opponent testimony today expressing his personal opposition to Senate Bill 225, which the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) contends threatens the future of deer hunting in Ohio.

Recently, the Chicago Tribune published a story profiling Otis McDonald, a 76 year-old African American, Democrat and hunter whose name is featured on the gun rights case McDonald v. City of Chicago that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court later this year.

From the story:

From behind the wheel of his hulking GMC Suburban, 76-year-old Otis McDonald leads a crime-themed tour of his Morgan Park neighborhood.

Photo by Scott Strazzante,
Chicago Tribune / January 13, 2010

He points to the yellow brick bungalow he says is a haven for drug dealers. Down the street is the alley where five years ago he saw a teenager pull out a gun and take aim at a passing car.

Around the corner, he gestures to the weed-bitten roadside where three thugs once threatened his life.

"I know every day that I come out in the streets, the youngsters will shoot me as quick as they will a policeman," says McDonald, a trim man with a neat mustache and closely cropped gray hair. "They'll shoot a policeman as quick as they will any of their young gangbangers."