Representative Jim McGregor Speaks at ORPA Meeting

State Representative Jim McGregor, 20th Ohio House District, spoke at the March 30th ORPA Trustees Meeting. Mr. McGregor discussed his support of firearm rights, along with his commitment to hunting and shooting sports. He also spoke about his efforts to ensure funding of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in the future. He then answered a few questions from the ORPA Trustees.

ORPA is committed to education and awareness of important Ohio issues, and we therefore invite any Ohio state government officials and candidates to discuss issues of importance to ORPA members at our meetings on a time-available basis. Interested officials and candidates should contact me to arrange a date.

ORPA/Friends of Camp Perry Pop-up Match

The Pistol Pop-up Target Match at Camp Perry that was co-sponsored by the Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association and the Friends of Camp Perry was a big success. We had 171 shooters, and, because many shooters shot more than once, we had 40 full relays of 10 each. I'm sure the Friends of Camp Perry will have photographs on their site in a few days, but, meanwhile, here are a few that I took.

The first picture shows the little pop-targets prior to the start of the relay. They do not stay up like this during the actual shooting. Various ones pop-up for a few seconds until you either hit them or they go back down. The next two pictures show shooters on the line. The final shot shows the mud that was omnipresent. You can click on an image to see a larger version.

Trustees Meeting on Sunday, March 30th

There will be a Trustees Meeting on Sunday, March 30th, starting at 9:00 a.m., at AMVETS Post #89 in northeast Columbus. You can get a map here. All ORPA members are invited, although only Trustees can vote on issues at these meetings. It is a good opportunity to see what's going on with your organization and to become more involved. Please see the right side of this web-page for information on future ORPA meetings, including the Annual Meeting in November.

Pop-up Target Match at Camp Perry, 3/29/08

This is a reminder of the pistol match being held at Camp Perry next Saturday, March 29th, where you get to shoot at pop-up targets. This is sponsored by the Friends of Camp Perry and ORPA. Details are here. Some pictures from the last pop-up match for rifles are here, and some from the last pistol match are here.

DC vs. Heller Arguments This Week

The oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court Second Amendment case, DC vs. Heller, will be given this coming week. See here for more information and links concerning this case, which will almost certainly be the most important such case in decades. This includes the State Firearms Association amicus brief, to which ORPA contributed. A couple of good web-sites for tracking developments are here and here.

ORPA Testimony on HB 264: "Castle Doctrine"

I testified on behalf of Ohio House Bill 264 at a hearing today. Please note the bill's sponsor and co-sponsors. The hearing was for the Criminal Justice committee, chaired by Representative White. The corresponding bill in the Ohio Senate is Senate Bill 184. There were two proponents and two opponents testifying in reference to this bill. Ken Hanson, of the Buckeye Firearms Association, was the other proponent, and Mr. Hanson gave his usual excellent testimony on behalf of this bill. The Buckeye Firearms Association deserves a tremendous amount of credit for their hard work on this and much other legislation.

The two main arguments advanced by the opponents were: 1) There is no need for this legislation, since self-defense is sufficiently covered in common law, and 2) Passage of the legislation would enable true criminals to claim self-defense in any case of a shooting. In response to the first argument, unfortunately there have been cases where people's lives have been severely damaged after being forced to defend themselves. Ryan Cundiff is one such person. For the second argument, instead of hypothetical nightmare scenarios, which the anti-self-defense advocates love to cite, we can point to many other states which have similar laws and none of the problems predicted.

I urge you to contact your State Representative and State Senator and ask them to move this vital legislation forward. You can find out who your representatives are and keep track of legislation in the "Ohio Legislation Status" area on this web-page.

Ohio "Castle Doctrine" Bills Receiving Hearings Next Week

[UPDATED - There will be no hearings on SB 184 this week. See here for more information.]

The Ohio House version of the "Castle Doctrine" legislation will have a hearing again this coming week. The House committee handling HB 264 will have a hearing at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, March 13th. You can find out more about this hearing and the bill here, here, here, and here. Please also keep an eye on the "Ohio Legislation Status" area on the right side of this web-page. There, you can find links to Ohio bills and help in contacting your representatives.
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"Columbus Dispatch" Covers OSU Rifleman

There's a nice article about Sam Ohlinger of the OSU Rifle team here. You can get more information, including links to some OSU and Akron team sites, here.

Lones Wigger for U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame

Please consider voting on-line for Lones Wigger for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Lt. Col. Wigger was a three-time Olympian and served his country honorably in Vietnam. You can read more about Lt. Col. Wigger and vote here. The voting card is on the right side of the web-page.