Beginning of the End? PDF Print E-mail
Opinion
Written by Daniel White   
Wednesday, 05 November 2008 01:17

We all know this morning that Barack Obama has won the presidency. As did The Brady Campaign, AHSA, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, George Soros, and every other anti-gun pundit who ever wanted to take your Second Amendment rights away from you.

As I said in the Firearms Freedom Podcast last night, there is a clear and present danger to your rights, and the change that's coming might not be what people hoped it would be.

In order to preserve our rights and not lose too much ground, we must remain vigilant, and we must remain active in our grassroots activism. It is likely to be a difficult road ahead for gun owners. However, if we send a clear message that we will not fade quietly into the night, perhaps the potential negative political consequences of pursuing an anti-gun agenda will dissuade the Obama administration from acting too heavy handedly.

It wasn't all gloom and doom last night, though, as many of OFCC's endorsees won their election bids.

Near the top of the ticket was the race for Attorney General. Richard Cordray did defeat OFCC endorsee Mike Crites, but it isn't a major loss. Cordray did attend the OFCC picnic and speak to the crowd, which at least shows a willingness to consider our issues. OFCC is hopeful that Cordray will be a good AG for gun owners, and we will readily admit our error if he turns out our fears were unfounded.

Congratulations are in order to Justices Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Maureen O’Connor, who were re-elected to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court.

In the Ohio Senate, it was a clean sweep as all 15 OFCC endorsed candidates won. Congratulations to Mark Wagoner, Gary Cates, Jon Husted, Bill Seitz, Chris Widener, Keith Faber, Tom Niehaus, Jim Hughes, Tim Grendell, James Stewart, Bob Gibbs, Tom Patton, Karen Gilmore, Jason Wilson, and Capri Cafaro.

In the Ohio House, over 72% of our endorsed candidates won. It would have been slightly higher, except that Brad Lewis lost by a mere 12 votes. Congratulations to Linda Bolon, Kris Jordan, Ron Amstutz, Matthew Huffman, Randy Gardner, Kenny Yuko, Eugine Miller, Michael Debose, Josh Mandel, Matt Patten, Kevin Bacon, Louis Blessing Jr., Bob Mecklenborg, Peter Stautberg, Ron Maag, Seth Morgan, Terry Blair, Steve Dyer, John Otterman, Barbara Sears, Peter Ujvagi, Matt Szollosi, Todd Snitchler, Scott Oelslager, Timothy Derickson, Courtney Combs, William P. Coley II, Matt Lundy, Terry Boose, Ron Garberry, Robert Hagan, Mark Okey, Lorraine Fende, Sandra Harwood, Joseph Uecker, Shannon W. Jones, Bill Batchelder, Jarrod Martin, Jay Hottinger, Ross McGregor, Jay Goyal, Bruce Goodwin, Lynn Wachtmann, Cliff Hite, Jim Zehringer, John Adams, Richard Adams, Jeffrey Wagner, Jeffrey McClain, David Burke, Bob Hackett, David Daniels, Clyde Evans, Danny Bubp, Todd Book, Dan Dodd, Jennifer Garrison, Troy Balderson, John Domenick, Allan Sayre, Dave Hall, Matt Dolan, and Deborah Newcomb.

For U.S. Congress, just as in the other races, OFCC made some tough choices and went with candidates we thought would be best on our issues rather than trying to artificially inflate our "winning percentage" by going with safe endorsements. We were rewarded as 12 out of 18 of our endorsed candidates won. Congratulations to Jean Schmidt, Michael Turner, Jim Jordan, Bob Latta, Charlie Wilson, Steve Austria, John Boehner, Pat Tiberi, Steve LaTourette, John Boccieri, Tim Ryan, Zack Space.

We will be counting, in particular, on these men and women to counter the Obama administration's anti-gun leanings and to protect our freedoms.

Interesting times lie ahead, and I strongly encourage those of you who love your gun rights to join OFCC and the NRA. Our strength is in our members, and we need your support. If you're not a member, please join. If you are a member, please renew. Consider buying a gift membership for a friend, family member, or even yourself. You can wear the commemorative lapel pin on any jacket or coat and use it as a conversation starter to educate others about gun rights. Grassroots activism can keep us from losing what we've gained, but only if you act. We have to make our representatives listen, and together, our voices can be heard. Our rights are in your hands.