[fastpat]

From: gacomm@juno. com
Date: Friday, December 8, 2006, 5:24:50 AM
Subject: 1 Down 1 To Go as Ohio House Overrides Taft Veto on Watershed Firearms General Law

With the combined efforts of "thinking" lawmakers, law abiding
Ohioans, Peoples Rights Organization, Buckeye Firearms
Association, Ohioans for Concealed Carry, and the National Rifle
Association, plus support from Ohio law enforcement, we have won
a victory today.

Gov. Bob Taft, as expected, vetoed Am. Sub. HB 347, which would
have reformed Ohio CCW and set in place a statewide general law
regarding all firearms regulations. Through calls and letters
from you, and countless others, the Ohio House of Representatives
yesterday OVERWHELMINGLY voted to override Taft's veto of this
important citizen safety legislation. More than 70 votes, when
only 60 were necessary to override. This is the first time in the
eight years of Taft's increasingly disgraced administration that
either body of the Ohio General Assembly has chosen to override
Taft's veto.

Your calls, letters, faxes and emails turned the tied. Please do
the same, if you have not already, with your state Senator. And
do it soon. The Senate is expected to take up this matter next
week. And tell all your friends who support responsible firearms
laws to call their Senator, also, to support 347. It is law
enforcement endorsed. There are a handful of big city mayors who
don't like it, and who claim this imperils individual freedoms.
In fact it does the opposite. As I, Mike Regan of PRO and others
have written in the past, Home Rule has been abused (particularly
with arbitary firearms bans, etc.) to the point that many mayors
are running their cities like "city-states. " 347 corrects that
abuse of Home Rule.

See the NRA statement below. Pro's long-time allies at the
national Citizens Committee for the Right To Keep and Bear Arms
also have issued a statement on this. Look for larger newspapers
in Ohio to oppose 347, and call it dangerous. In fact, what they
don't like is the people of Ohio stepping up and telling a
handful of big city mayors to quit trying to export their
regulations to the rest of the state. There is a reason why many
people are moving out of Ohio's larger cities, as one of my
colleagues says it so well. People are moving out of urban areas
in droves because they want to live in more tolerant, more
diverse communities, instead of being harrassed and blamed for
the activities of criminals such as drug dealers. As many leaders
of larger cities can't control their drug problems and the
violence stemming from it, they often blame guns for problems.
And the myriad of laws they pass, usually with no data to back it
up, end up affecting innocent people.

Am. Sub. HB 347 takes great leaps forward to correct this abuse.

Once again, please contact your state Senator and urge them to
override Gov. Taft's politically motivated veto. Don't wait! The
Senate is expected to take up the matter next week. You need to
tell them your feelings now! Urge them to support this law
enforcement endorsed general law that makes sense for Ohioans.

Thank you for your ongoing support, and for your support of the
rights of all Ohioans, regardless of whether they choose to
exercise their 2A rights.

Respectfully,
Brent Greer, Secretary
Peoples Rights Organization