'Shoot first' legislation and the concept of fair play

March 6, 6:20 AMCleveland Gun Rights ExaminerDaniel White

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The gun grabbers always try to tag any legislation or policy favoring guns with a scary label. "Assault weapons," "gun show loophole," "hidden guns," and now "shoot first legislation."

What they're referring to with that last one is what we prefer to call Stand Your Ground legislation, and is included in Ohioans For Concealed Carry's list of goals for reforms in 2009. This legislation is the concept that a person attacked in any place he or she has a legal right to be does not have to try to flee before being permitted to use lethal force for self defense. It also requires that those who do use lethal force are to be considered innocent until proven guilty, provided that the defendee was not also committing a crime. It is basically an extension of Castle Doctrine, which was enacted in Ohio last year.

If you frame such legislation as protection for victims and explain about being innocent until proven guilty, most people will realize this is a common sense protection for law abiding citizens. Of course, gun control advocates like the Brady Campaign can't have that, so they instead try to scare people by making it seem like it is a license to kill. After this legislation passed in Florida, the Brady Campaign put up billboards and handed out fliers at the airports with the following message

Anyone who reads the legislation knows that none of those claims are true, but that doesn't stop the Brady Bunch from trying to prey on people's fears in order to further their gun ban agenda. In addition to portraying gun owners as unstable, trigger happy lunatics, another emotional argument that they try to use with that phrase is the mental image of shooting first.

We grow up as kids watching tv and movies where the good guy in the white hat rarely acts first. The bad guy takes a shot, misses, and only then does the good guy return fire. A preemptive strike is seen as cowardly and unfair.

But, the real world is rarely so black & white. If a criminal breaks into your house late at night, you can't wait for him to take the first shot and hope that he misses. This isn't to say that you'd start shooting if someone looks shifty, only that in a fight you have to fight to win and that means taking every advantage. When a person is confronted by a violent criminal threatening great bodily harm or death, your best hope for survival is a quick, decisive response. Your life, and the lives of your family members, aren't something to gamble with. It's not about fair play, it's about survival.

If you would like to see gun rights in Ohio protected and expanded, Ohioans For Concealed Carry needs your help!

On Saturday, May 2nd is the annual fundraiser for the group, dubbed the Fun 'n Gun.

When you take the fight for the Second Amendment beyond just making a few phone calls, you quickly realize it takes money to make a difference. Web servers for the main website and the forums, brochures and other publicity items, newspaper ads, signs, attorney fees for court cases, and more all require cash. With no rich overseas sponsors like the anti-gun groups have, groups like OFCC rely on member dues and donations.

The Fun 'n Gun is OFCC's main fundraiser for the year. Think of it as a $125/plate fundraiser dinner, only instead of sitting in a stuffy banquet hall listening to elevator music, you get to shoot all day! The event is set up in various stages which reenact scenarios you might encounter in a  real life self defense situation. You get to practice drawing from your holster to engage the hostile targets (something not very many people get to do at indoor ranges) and many scenerios involve moving to cover, problem solving, and other shooting skills.

Geared for both beginning and advanced shooters, it promises to be a day of fun shooting for all! It is being held this year at the Rochester Rod and Gun Club (near Wellington and Findlay State Park). Visit the Facebook page for the event for pictures.

Included is a one year membership (new or renewal) in OFCC, and all proceeds raised go towards Ohioans For Concealed Carry to help further the fight to protect and expand your gun rights!

Click here for more details, and I hope to see you there!