Anti-Gun John Kasich To Announce Ohio Guv Run

UPDATED: Monday, June 1, 2009, 10:34 pm -- It's official. He's running.

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Tomorrow, Monday, at 5 pm, former congressman and one time republican presidential candidate John Kasich will formally announce he is running for Ohio governor . The announcement is scheduled to take place in his hometown of Westerville.

Accordingly, I am formally announcing my opposition to his candidacy, and every gun owner in Ohio should follow suit.

John Kasich is no friend of the Second Amendment. He is unapologetic about his brokering the deal that led to the ban on so-called "asssault weapons" by Congress back in 1994 -- the same "Brady Ban"that led to democrats losing control of Congress.

Gov. Ted Strickland, a democrat, has been an unabashed supporter of gun rights, self defense, concealed carry, etc. going back to his days in Congress. He has signed every pro gun bill to come before him since he became governor of the Buckeye State. He signed landmark legislation putting responsibility for all firearms regulations in the hands of competent state lawmakers, rather than the little titans that populate the many city-states that have emerged around Ohio. These local politicians have exploited their power to pass feel-good, nonsense gun bans and other restrictions despite overwhelming evidence that these actions do nothing to impact crime, and many times endanger the very grandmothers and moms they claim to protect.

Gov. Strickland supports law abiding citizens being able to possess firearms. He gets it. He is one of the few enlightened individuals within his political party.

This author is one individual, generally a conservative, who will be voting for Gov. Strickland and working to defeat Mr. Kasich. Considering that I worked on Mr. Kasich's first campaign (as a volunteer when he ran as a political nobody for a congressional seat held by a gentleman with one of those last names that resonate in local politics), one might think I am conflicted. I am not.

I predict Ohio's statewide gun rights organizations will urge their members to look hard at the records of both candidates, and that the logical choice will quickly emerge. I predict the National Rifle Association will either take no position (a cowardly choice) or give a much higher score to Strickland. It should be the latter.

This is a no brainer. Strickland has been a champion of firearms owners for years and years. Kasich? Well he showed his colors in 1994 and was complicit in a 10 year long farce that continues to this day. He needs to explain to voters his position on the Second Amendment, and why he did what he did in 1994. More recently, he was a speaker at one of the tea parties that took place several weeks ago. I was in Florida at the time and do not know whether he spoke to the rights of firearms owners. But if he had, I would have been informed by someone.

Even now there are people in Congress who say the ban that Kasich championed should be made permanent. Its pure nonsense. I cannot support someone who not only voted for that ridiculous piece of legislation, but moreover, helped orchestrate its passage.