Hunters took 20,659 deer during Ohio's four-day muzzleloader season, December 27-30, with Tuscarawas County again leading the state with 934 deer checked. Last year, a preliminary total of 21,473 deer was taken during muzzleloader season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

By Jeff Knox

The repercussions from Hurricane Katrina continue to roll in like the tidal surge that flooded New Orleans. The latest storm takes aim at guns and gunowners. As news trickles out of a final resolution in the lawsuits filed over the government’s illegal confiscation of firearms during the days after the flood, new reports of unprovoked attacks on African-Americans by white, neighborhood militias during the storm’s aftermath are beginning to surface. In a feature article in the liberal magazine "The Nation," titled “Katrina’s Hidden Race War,” writer A. C. Thompson suggests that a group organized to provide security for the Algiers Point neighborhood actually engaged in open warfare against unarmed, innocent blacks trying to reach an evacuation point on the other side of the neighborhood. In the article, Thompson combines first-person accounts of the victims of one attack, the statements of members of the neighborhood security group, African-American residents of the Algiers Point neighborhood, records from area hospitals, the coroner’s office, and generous helpings of hearsay and speculation to suggest that members of the security group engaged in racially motivated murder.

If there is any truth in these accusations, the perpetrators should be rooted out and punished. The Second Amendment is about defense of person, community, and country, not sport-hunting of humans. Anyone who accepts the responsibility of carrying a gun also accepts the responsibility of using it wisely. Governor Bobby Jindal should immediately launch a full investigation to either condemn or exonerate the members of the Algiers Point Militia.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that a Metroparks visitor carrying a concealed gun fatally shot a rottweiler that attacked his leashed dog at Tyler Field off Valley Parkway in the Cleveland area.

By Jim Irvine

The Ohio Attorney General's office has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the third quarter of 2008. We have now seen six straight quarters of increased demand over the same period a year prior.

In the typically slow third quarter, the 7,632 regular concealed handgun licenses issued was a whopping 58% increase over the same period in 2007. Add to that another 9,130 renewals and 13 Temporary Emergency Licenses (TELs) and it is clear that demand for CHL's continues to be strong and getting stronger.

In fact, the evidence is that even five years later the CHL is still one of the most successful government programs going. Over 250 people every business day applied for a new or renewal CHL in Ohio. New licenses are still averaging over 100 every business day.

By Jim Irvine

The Columbus Dispatch editorial "Kowtow to the NRA – Sheriffs got a raw deal when lawmakers backed down on concealed carry fee" demonstrates that the Dispatch editors are still more interested in spreading lies to prop up their failed ideas rather than excepting the truth and reporting the news.

It is important to note that the Dispatch has been contacted many times by Buckeye Firearms Association leaders about gun-related stories full of errors, omissions, or lies. That they continue to write stories that are factually inaccurate proves they are intentionally attempting to mislead their readers about firearms and the legislative process.