By Linda Walker

If you have ever gone to the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., then no doubt you have walked through Statuary Hall, where each state has two statues depicting someone from its history.

One of these statues is slated to be replaced. The Ohio Legislature has been tasked to find the replacement, with the help of all Ohioans. We need YOU to help us put famous Ohio sharpshooter Annie Oakley in Statuary Hall.

According to committee chairman Senator Mark Wagoner, "The National Statuary Collection Study Committee was created as part of Senate Bill 277 of the 126th General Assembly to select a replacement statue to be displayed at the United States Capitol as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection."

House Bill 203, which seeks to "allow a concealed carry licensee who is not consuming liquor and is not under the influence to carry a concealed handgun in a retail food establishment or food service operation with any class liquor permit issued for the location," has been added to the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security agenda for sponsor testimony, Tuesday, January 19 at 3:00pm in Statehouse Hearing Room 122.

The purpose for Tuesday's hearing is so that the committee may hear testimony on HB203 from the legislation's supporters.

Buckeye Firearms Association will offer testimony in support of this legislation.

By Ken Hanson, Esq.

Chicago and Oak Park have filed their brief (http://www.chicagoguncase.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/08-1521-bs.pdf) with the U.S. Supreme Court in the McDonald v. Chicago Second Amendment case. By way of review, this case will decide whether the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution applies against the states, a process also known as Incorporation. Originally, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution served as restrictions against the Federal Government only. With the passage of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Constitutional rights and restrictions were now to be applied equally against the states.

To date, the law is that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states. The McDonald case seeks to change this, and asks the SCOTUS to Incorporate the Second Amendment against the states for the first time. Buckeye Firearms Foundation, the 501c3 charity associated with Buckeye Firearms Association, teamed up with the United States Concealed Carry Association to file an Amicus brief in support of incorporation. This brief was filed back in November, and it is now the time when Chicago/Oak Park and their amici supporters will be filing their briefs. The case is set to be argued March 2, 2010 with a decision expected in late June or July.

While the McDonald case is, at the core, a simple Incorporation case, a much larger battle is being waged within the pages of the pleadings in the case. At issue (indeed, more so than the question of 'whether to Incorporate') is a battle over HOW to Incorporate.