News Summary

The Sept. 8 article, "Strickland vs. Blackwell: Who has the best shot?," and related stories prompted these responses:

Blackwell clear pick for gun owners

Overall, reporter Laura Bischoff did a pretty good job. However, she should have stopped well short of the cute comments that were perhaps intended to make her look like a gun expert. She should also do a little research and get the spelling of the manufacturers' names correct.

In the shotguns listed as being owned by Ken Blackwell are a "Merkle" and a "Baretta." The correct spellings are "Merkel" and "Beretta." Of course it was easy to get the spelling correct on the shotguns owned by Ted Strickland — none.

Bischoff, in the piece "Blackwell keeps eyes on the prize when trapshooting," writes, "I note he's using a 10-gauge shotgun." She asks Blackwell, "Isn't that the size kids use in trap tournaments?"

I don't know what gauge shotgun Blackwell used for this particular round of trap. However, when he helped open the Ohio State Trapshoot, he was using a 20-gauge gun. Ten-gauge shotguns are not used in shooting competitive trap.

Additionally, the 20-gauge shotgun is rarely used in shooting trap, as the 12-gauge is the standard. I might add that almost all the youth who competed in the Ohio State Trapshoot used the 12-gauge.

Perhaps the writer was attempting to poke fun at Blackwell's choice of firearms. Well, when you don't know the terminology, the punch line just isn't funny.

However, the bottom line on the articles is pretty clear in the gun-owners' choice for governor. Both candidates belong to the National Rifle Association and both say they support firearms ownership. Only one actually owns firearms. One talks the talk. Only Blackwell also walks the walk.

— Larry S. Moore

Jamestown

Candidates show true colors on guns

Congrats for showing us the gubernatorial candidates' true colors. It was clear that they have their gun lobby rhetoric memorized.

They say personal information should not be available about those who are carrying loaded weapons in public. Don't be fooled; the information is not personal. It is name, age and county of residence.

When asked about self-defense and deadly force, they obviously did not know the contents of HB 541. The bill would allow gun carriers to shoot first, claiming self-defense anywhere they are (they already have the right to defend themselves when their homes are invaded). Be careful how you appear to others, as you might be perceived as a threat.

Both said they support taking away the right of cities to regulate safety when it comes to guns. They believe state government can decide what's best.

Both answered each question with their canned response about the rights to life and liberty, privacy and the Constitution. Maybe they should have gone to the funerals of Philip Bates in Cincinnati, shot on his front sidewalk, or Masumi Hayashi and John Jackson in Cleveland, who were shot, allegedly because they objected to a neighbor's loud music. They should tell their families about life and liberty or privacy.

Will either of them sit by the bedside of 17-year-old Rachel Barezinsky, who was shot because she acted like a teen, or explain to her family that the "victim" had an unalienable constitutional right to shoot her?

Too bad neither of them cares more about us than they do about the gun lobby.

— Toby Hoover

Toledo

Ms. Hoover is Executive Director of Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.

'DDN' resorts to stunt journalism

What kind of lowest-common-denominator stunt did the Dayton Daily News have in mind when it came up with the idea of taking the Ohio gubernatorial candidates shooting? By all means, let's see if we can simultaneously sell some papers and swing an election using the cheapest kind of stunt journalism.

After all, the DDN is "REtooled"; I guess I just didn't realize it was going to so explicitly be a tool of the Ohio Republican Party.

I expect better of the Dayton paper, and so do other folks who live and work here. So how about actually addressing issues, instead of inventing them?

— Celeste Sheets

Cincinnati