Marc Dann (D) earns the endorsement for Attorney General

(John Curry, 7/25/06): As a retired educator I would like to touch upon a "touchy" issue for some educator actives and retirees concerning the following endorsement for Sen. Marc Dann for Ohio Attorney General. It seems as if the topics of firearms, concealed carry, target shooting, and hunting are somewhat alien to most (note I said "most") educators due to their gender and/or their background.

"Buckeye Firearms Association is proud to announce endorsements in four Statewide races for this fall.

Marc Dann (D) earns the endorsement for Attorney General. The Attorney General is the state’s top attorney. This person is key to firearms issues in general, and concealed carry in particular. He is responsible to determine what states Ohio will enter into a reciprocity agreement with, thus determining how many states your Ohio CHL is valid in. He also prepares the pamphlets required for all CHL classes. Currently the Attorney General is involved in many pending court cases that can have a dramatic effect on the laws that effect day to day legality of all gun owners. Jim Petro (R) has done an excellent job for gun owners (of course, Jimmy likely wasn't responsible for unsuccessfully overseeing thier STRS retirement system, was he - John), and we need elect Marc Dann to keep that office friendly to gun owners. Jim Irvine said, “If it were not for Marc Dann’s leadership in the Senate, we might still be discussing how to pass concealed carry instead of discussing making improvements. We need to elect Dann.” http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article3190.html

Note from John: No, I am not a member of the "Buckeye Firearms Association." I however do respect the thousands of law abiding sportsmen in Ohio who do own firearms and do exercise their Constitutional right to participate in the activities of gun collecting, target shooting, hunting, and even carrying concealed. During my lifetime I have had the fortune to hunt, competively target shoot, and have even dabbled in the hobby of gun collecting. All of my "classroom hours" were not spent teaching in a public school building - some were spent training new police recruits learning how to become proficient with their firearms as an Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy certified firearms instructor. Other (OPERS related) hours were spent enforcing the Ohio Revised Code as a State Park Officer which entailed dealing with thousands of Ohio sportsmen who, every year, converged upon a large northwestern Ohio public hunting facility (Grand Lake St. Marys State Park) to participate in the duck and goose hunting seasons. The vast majority of these sportsmen are gentlemen, law abiding citizens, gun owners, and many are even CCW permit holders! They are (unlike this author) mostly conservatives (if one must use a label) - BUT LOOK WHO THEY ARE ENDORSING FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL - Senator Marc Dann - and rightly so! On this issue, it looks like many educators and the sportsmen both agree. Let's send Betty Montgomery packing - not the "concealed carry" kind of packing - the suitcase kind of packing! John