Double standard for some in law enforcement

March 26, 6:05 AMCleveland Gun Rights ExaminerDaniel White

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I want to start off by saying that I like most law enforcement officers. They have a tough, often thankless job and I have a lot of respect for the vast majority of them. That said, I'm not such a fan of creating special rights or privileges them, or for most any group.

When you're talking about any group of people, you're obviously going to have some bad apples. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, priests, police officers... every occupation has them. Yesterday afternoon, a bad apple by the name of Gerald McFaul resigned from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's department, effective April 1.

I first heard of Sheriff McFaul back in 2004 when concealed carry was just becoming law in Ohio. Sheriffs were mandated to begin accepting applications on April 8. McFaul said he wasn't going to. A judge told him otherwise.

Recently, he began to be in the news again. When budget cuts forced layoffs, his friends and relatives got raises. The Cleveland Plain Dealer "documented his hiring and promoting practices, illegal fundraising, favoritism for friends and political allies. Pay records show he only comes to the office about one day a week." He was also caught giving instructions to his girfriend at the time regarding how to get out of a subpoena she had been served regarding a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him.

On top of everything else, the Plain Dealer recently found evidence that he may have accepted kickbacks from employees. Apparently, that was the final straw that pushed him to resign.

Another article explored his life before becoming sheriff. While a Cleveland Councilman, he bullied colleagues and ruled his ward with an iron fist. Sometimes literally, like the time he came to blows (aka: assaulted) a member of the mayor's cabinet for making "disparaging remarks" about council. A near fist fight with fellow councilman at the time Dennis Kucinich was also documented. There were also allegations he misused police resources to become elected sheriff and that jobs and promotions went only to those who curried favor.

My point in bringing all of this up is not to kick the man while he is down, but to illustrate the double standard that exists in the eyes of the gun control movement. They claim time and time again that only law enforcement officers should be allowed to have guns, yet here is a man who only by luck and shady dealings managed to evade being thrown in jail for his crimes against the community instead using his connections to be elected sheriff. He then became a stain on the office of sheriff in Ohio, which is unfair because there have been hundreds of excellent sheriffs across the state during his 30+ year reign of terror.

Take any common man with a similar history and the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence would be writing up scathing articles if he were granted a concealed handgun license. Yet call in a few political favors to get a badge and suddenly you're a model citizen who is now one of the "only ones", as my colleague David Codrea calls them, who can be trusted with a firearm?

Armed citizens have to jump through a lot of hoops in Ohio to get their concealed handgun license. Twelve hours of training including two hours of range time and a lengthy application documenting every place they've lived since they were eighteen years of age, which is then used to conduct an extensive background check. They can't have any felonies or serious misdemeanors of violence or drug use. They can't ever have been adjudicated into a mental health facility. Basically, they're put through the ringer. But the gun grabbers will have you believe that this isn't enough and that they still can't be trusted? But be a crooked politician and get yourself elected sheriff and you pass their litmus test. It isn't right.