United States Constitution: "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Ohio Constitution: "The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security;..."

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Roll Call on HB 450

Here were the votes in the Ohio House and Senate for Substitute House Bill 450, which extended the rights of adults serving their country in the Armed Forces of the United States:

Senate:

yeas (28): Amstutz, Austria, Boccieri, Buehrer, Cafaro, Carey, Cates, Coughlin, Faber, Fedor, Goodman, Grendell, Harris, Kearney, Lehner, D. Miller, Morano, Niehaus, Padgett, Patton, Roberts, Sawyer, Schaffer, Schuring, Seitz, Stivers, Wagoner, Wilson

nays (3): R. Miller, Smith, Turner

House:

yeas (91): Adams, Aslanides, Bacon, Batchelder, Beatty, Blessing, Bolon, Book, Boyd, Brady, Brinkman, Brown, Bubp, Budish, Carmichael, Celeste, Chandler, Ciafardini, Coley, Collier, Combs, Core, Daniels, DeBose, DeGeeter, DeWine, Dodd, Dolan, Domenick, Driehaus, Dyer, Fende, Flowers, Foley, Gardner, Garrison, Gerberry, Gibbs, Goodwin, Goyal, Grady, J. Hagan, R. Hagan, Harwood, Heard, Heydinger, Hite, Hottinger, Huffman, Hughes, Husted, Jones, Letson, Luckie, Lundy, Mandel, J. McGregor, R. McGregor, Mecklenborg, Miller, Nero, Oelslager, Okey, Otterman, Peterson, Redfern, Reinhard, Sayre, Schindel, Schlichter, Schneider, Sears, Setzer, Skindell, Slesnick, Stebelton, D. Stewart, J. Stewart, Strahorn, Sykes, Szollosi, Uecker, Wachtmann, Wagner, White, B. Williams, S. Williams, Wolpert, Yates, Yuko, Zehringer

nays (0):

Thanks to NRA and BFA

Thanks very much to the National Rifle Association and the Buckeye Firearms Association, who worked tirelessly both publicly and behind the scenes to make sure that a good version of Substitute House Bill 450 was passed.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

HB 450 on Governor's Desk for Signature

Update: An amendment to the CHL fee structure, which would have almost certainly meant an increase in CHL fees, was removed from the previously passed Substitute House Bill 450, and the Senate and the House both passed this after midnight last night and sent the bill to the Governor for signature. Read more about all of this here.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Ohio Senate Passes HB 450

The Judiciary - Criminal Justice Committee of the Ohio Senate today approved House Bill 450, with amendments, and sent the bill to the entire Senate, which then also approved the bill. Find out more about this bill here. The Ohio House should vote on concurrence tomorrow. More details later....

Saturday, December 13, 2008

On Radio, 12/14/08

I will be a guest on Jim Irvine's radio show tomorrow night on 1420 AM (Cleveland). If you can't listen to the broadcast live, you can listen live on the internet or later to the podcast. Please see this link for further details. The show starts at 10 p.m., and I should be on around 10:40 or so.

Hearing on Ohio House Bill 450

On Wednesday, December 10th, I testified on behalf of Ohio House Bill 450 to the Judiciary - Criminal Justice Committee of the Ohio Senate. The bill's primary sponsor is Representative Goodwin of Defiance. Linda Walker of the Buckeye Firearms Association also testified on behalf of the bill. This bill would allow adults between 18 and 21 who are in the armed forces to purchase handguns. Law enforcement officers of the same age already have this privilege. You can read more about it here. This includes a transcript of my remarks to the committee.