Banning competition firearms

March 9, 6:04 AMCleveland Gun Rights ExaminerDaniel White

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Courtesy Oleg Volk

As I've noted before, on the official White House website President Obama states he "support[s] making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent" despite the fact that such firearms are used in less than 1% of all crimes. The very fact that there have not been mass shootings using these guns after the ban expired proves it.

The gun grabbers would have you believe that such bans are necessary for public safety, and that they are only after guns that have "no sporting purpose." Of course, anyone who knows anything at all about firearms will tell you that the guns that were banned were functionally the same as many common hunting rifles, with only cosmetic differences. That doesn't matter to anti-gunners, they just want people to believe we need to get rid of those scary looking guns.

The "no sporting purpose" argument is also a fallacy, since not only do many people hunt with those rifles, but they are also heavily used in competitive shooting sports.

David Johnson, president of the Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association, laid the facts out very plainly in a recent letter to U.S. Senator from Ohio George Voinovich.

THE OHIO RIFLE AND PISTOL ASSOCIATION AFFILIATED WITH THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION David Alan Johnson, Ph.D. President P. O. Box 571 Dayton, Ohio 45409-0571 president@orpa.net www.orpa.net   Senator George Voinovich U.S. Senate Columbus, Ohio Dear Senator Voinovich: As the President of the Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association (ORPA), I would like to express our concerns regarding a so-called “Assault Weapons” ban (AWB) that may be considered by the new U.S. Congress. The ORPA is made up of people who give generously of their time and money to support the shooting sports and our rights as Americans and Ohioans, and it is an honor and a privilege to head this fine organization, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009. The ORPA is affiliated with the National Rifle Association and we work closely with the NRA in many areas, but we are an independent, grass-roots organization, working at the state level for our thousands of members and the millions of law-abiding firearm owners in Ohio. The ORPA runs its own series of Highpower Rifle matches, as do many of our member clubs, and the most common rifle used in the Service Rifle class for these matches is a type that may be included in an unwise and unconstitutional AWB, which would ban certain firearms for not functional but purely cosmetic reasons. These rifle matches involve thousands of participants each year in Ohio, including many juniors and women. In addition, many of the events held as part of the world-famous National Matches, held annually at Camp Perry in Ohio, involve the use of this type of target rifle. I myself shoot in such matches, and I use this type of target rifle, which is a civilian version of the rifle I proudly carried in the United States Marine Corps. It is a semi-automatic-only version of the USMC’s service rifle, and this type of rifle is rarely used in criminal activity. Many of the junior shooters who use this type of rifle have gone on to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States, utilizing the skills acquired as civilians shooting this type of rifle. In fact, many civilian Service Rifle shooters, including some from Ohio, have trained soldiers and Marines in marksmanship skills they acquired as American citizens shooting this type of rifle in Highpower Rifle matches. We would prefer that the Congress focus on passing laws that punish criminals for criminal behavior and not turn law-abiding citizens in to criminals for merely possessing a firearm which they enjoy using and the possession of which is constitutionally protected. I shall keep the members of the ORPA closely informed of the progress of any possible legislation in this area. Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information or if you would like testimony on any issue of interest to ORPA. You can find further information on ORPA at www.orpa.net. Best wishes in your important work on behalf of Ohioans and in protecting our rights as expressed in both Section 1.04 of the Ohio Constitution and the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Sincerely, David Alan Johnson, Ph.D.

Gun ban advocates don't like it when you tell the truth and when you point out the holes in their "logic." The fact is, these guns are used most often for legal purposes whether it be hunting, target shooting, competition, or simply for collecting. They are very rarely used for crime, regardless of how "evil" they might try to portray these guns to be. They're agenda is far larger than just banning these so called assault weapons, and we can't let their lies go unchecked.

Yesterday in Illinois, the pastor of a Maryville church was shot and killed during Sunday service once again proving that banning the carrying of firearms for self-defense only disarms those who are inclined to follow the law.

After his gun jammed, the killer pulled out a knife and was seriously injured after being tackled by parishioners. Had his gun not jammed, it is quite possible there would have been further casualties since the parishioners were armed only with bravery. Had this happened in Ohio, it likely wouldn't have played out any different since conclealed handgun license holders are banned from churches unless a specific exemption is sought and granted by church officials.

READERSHIP INTERACTION

Uncle Lar: The Brady Campaign lies. They will twist and torture the truth to any extent necessary to further their goal, which let's be frank is the total and complete disarmament of the American citizen. Short term their trite sayings and cute phrases fool the uninformed populace, but as more of their dire predictions of blood in the streets fail to occur they are slowly gaining a reputation as a group who's statements simply cannot be trusted. And that is a reputation they richly deserve.

You're absolutely right, Lar. I've talked in my column several times about those lies, and all of us have to work together to counter them. That's the power of grassroots activism, and every person we can reach with the truth is one less blind follower they will have.