by Joe DeBergalis

With all the success of the gun rights movement in recent years, this might sound like a broken record, but 2011 was a banner year for gun rights. From the halls of Congress to state assemblies across the country, lawmakers heard the voices of gun owners loud and clear and enacted the legislation we were looking for.

In the state legislatures, the biggest win was the culmination of over a decade's worth of unrelenting work in Wisconsin, making Wisconsin the 49th state to allow its citizens some form of concealed carry. The victories kept coming throughout the year in Wisconsin with the passage of two pro-hunting bills and castle doctrine legislation.

Not to be left out, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Pennsylvania also passed castle doctrine bills. In Ohio a law respecting the right to carry in restaurants serving alcohol was enacted. And it became legal to use suppressors for certain types of hunting in Montana, while Washington fixed a longstanding error in its laws, which until now had allowed suppressors to be possessed but not used.

Florida added teeth to its preemption law which has been on the books since 1987. Local violators of the state preemption law now face fines for willful violations. The result has been wholesale repeal of unlawful firearm ordinances across the state.

Additionally, several states enacted laws making it easier for their residents and residents of other states to make out of state long-gun purchases. 2011 also saw a number of states pass laws respecting Right-to-Carry in new places and respecting the right of permit holders to store firearms in their vehicles in employers’ parking lots.

Even Illinois passed pro-gun legislation, protecting the privacy of Firearms Owner Identification card holders from state public records requests.

by Chad D. Baus

In a media report Monday, January 23, City of Fremont Police Chief Tim Wiersma misstated Ohio gun law. In a Thursday phone conversation with Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman Jim Irvine, Wiersma said he has spent the rest of the week answering phone calls and letters from citizens seeking to correct him.

In the WTOL (CBS Toledo) report on how one of his department's officers had two guns and five magazines stolen from his Toledo home, Chief Wiersma stated that he was more concerned about the theft because one of the guns had a larger magazine capacity than that allowed for civilian use.

From WTOL:

Fremont's Police Chief Tim Wiersma said it is a concerning crime because it endangers the public.

"The heightened concern is the bigger, larger capacity for the magazines. Police have a 15 round magazine, and the legal limit for a civilian is nine. So, there's six more bullets," said Wiersma.

by Chad D. Baus

State Reps. Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Andy Thompson (R-Marietta) have introduced two bills that seek to reform, or "de-Taft," portions of Ohio's concealed carry law.

House Bill 422 seeks to repeal requirements that a concealed carry licensee inform an approaching law enforcement officer that the licensee is a licensee and is carrying a concealed handgun. According to rep. Maag, Ohio is one of only four states that have such a requirement. The idea for repealing the notification provision has been the subject of frequent discussion since last June, when Canton police officer Daniel Harless was caught on dash cam video threatening to execute a concealed carry licensee because he felt notification did not happen in time. The case against the CHL-holder were eventually thrown out of court, and Harless was fired.

by Chad D. Baus

On January 23, 2012 The Columbus Dispatch published an article by reporter Dean Narciso, entitled "Guns not welcome in some bars, restaurants." While filled with speculation on the terrible things that opponents still predict will happen under Ohio's restaurant carry law, the article is curiously absent of any recognition of the fact that the law has already been in place for four months, and that none of those predictions have come to pass.

From the article:

While gun owners hail a new state law that allows them to carry firearms into restaurants and bars, as long as they don't consume alcohol, some business owners feel that they're losing their right to a weapon-free zone.

In response to Senate Bill 17, some businesses are using signs and door stickers — "Do Not Patronize if Armed" — to turn away gun-toters.

Jake's Restaurant in Mount Vernon put up its sign in the fall, a few weeks after the law took effect in August. It reads: "All weapons including concealed firearms are prohibited on these premises."

"We felt the need to say, 'Hey, we still don't see the need to bring weapons in,'" said Amy Baldner, general manager.

"We just want people feeling comfortable bringing their families here," Baldner said. "A restaurant with alcohol in it is just not the place for guns."

..."I'm a bar that serves food," said Kim Rowe, the owner of Final Score Sports Pub in Delaware. "Ninety-five percent of the people who walk in here are going to drink."

Allowing guns is "a recipe for disaster," she said. "There's a reason they didn't allow it in the first place."

If you are having a strong sense of déjà vu, you're not alone. The entire article is written in such a way that, as I read it, I literally had to double-check the date of the article to make sure it wasn't something that had been published four months ago, when the new law first took effect.

Long before Al Gore "created" the Internet, gun owners were busy perfecting grassroots networking. Today, gun owners have an almost unlimited number of ways to spread information crucial to our community. And, while the Internet is certainly an indispensible tool for protecting our rights, an unfortunate side effect has been the fast and easy spread of rumors.

The latest of these, appearing on Internet message boards and in emails, warns of a growing trend of gangsters marking the license plates or wheels of vehicles parked at shooting clubs, gun stores, ranges and gun shows. According to the rumor, the thieves later spot or follow the marked vehicles and break into them to steal guns while their owners are elsewhere.

The reports go on to claim that the tactic has reached "epidemic" proportions in San Antonio, Texas, and specifically, at the National Skeet Shooting Association and National Sporting Clays Association's National Shooting Complex. Naturally, the NSC investigated the matter thoroughly. They concluded that the rumor is false on several counts.

by Jim Irvine

Recently, leaders of Buckeye Firearms Association met to discuss and plan the coming year. Concealed carry and firearms legislation, elections and endorsements, and fun events were all on the agenda. It's going to be an exciting year.

Events

On the events front, we start with the Buckeye Bash on February 11. This event is a huge amount of work for us, but the items for auction continue to come in and I'm really looking forward to a fun evening.

Register now to attend this event!

Later this year, we will hold shooting events at Oxford, and one with Dave Spaulding similar to last year's.

We will have Dave Grossman back this fall in the Cincinnati area to present his "Bullet-proofing the Mind" seminar.

We are also looking into hosting a shooting event between Columbus and Cleveland, and possibly a fall shoot that will be fun and something completely different.

Finally, Buckeye Firearms Foundation will again sponsor a youth shooting event.

Legislation

by Chad D. Baus

In the wake of yet another home invasion in which the victim was able to defend himself with a firearm, Dayton's NBC affiliate gave Buckeye Firearms Association's Joe Eaton the opportunity to explain Ohio's law on self-defense, also known as Castle Doctrine.

New York City's CBS News affiliate is reporting on a new technology that could detect weapons on someone as they walk down the street.

From the article:

Police, along with the U.S. Department of Defense, are researching new technology in a scanner placed on police vehicles that can detect concealed weapons.

"You could use it at a specific event. You could use it at a shooting-prone location," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez on Tuesday.

It's called Terahertz Imaging Detection. It measures the energy radiating from a body up to 16 feet away, and can detect anything blocking it, like a gun.

"I think it's good. People will be safer and it will be a safer environment," Jessica Ramos said.

"I think it's all about invading people's lives more and more and more," Antonio Gabriel added.

Police Commissioner Kelly said the scanner would only be used in reasonably suspicious circumstances and could cut down on the number of stop-and-frisks on the street.

But according to the article, even civil liberties groups known for ignoring the Second Amendment are raising a red flag.