Along with the NRA, Ohio-based gun rights orgs have moved the ball forward over the last two decades.
“In our mind, there’s no cause for some big celebration at this point,” [Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim] Irvine said. “We work to educate legislators on a topic that we feel is important so that when it comes time to vote on it, they understand the issue, they’ve thought about it, and they agree that this is a good policy for the people of Ohio. It’s not the talk that matters; it’s the result that matters.”
That approach has worked, too: The organization has seen 20 bills signed into law since 2001 that advance its agenda.
The group does not have exclusive ownership of all those bills, though. Ohioans for Concealed Carry supported and pushed many of those bills in prior legislatures. [Chuck] LaRosa said that his organization is results-oriented, and, although it subscribes to the “no compromise” stance, he also did not rule out the incremental approach.
“We’re getting little bites of freedom as opposed to getting our rights restored to how they were originally intended,” he said.
– Ben Deeter in Ohio’s gun lobby groups: same goal, different tactics