Is There Any Question That Money Buys Political Votes?

Blogger Rose Petsche says she is disappointed Rob Portman voted "no" on the bi-partisan background check bill. Are you?

School Safety Reforms Central to President Obama’s Gun Control Proposal

Westlake schools already have a number of security measures in place.

President Barack Obama presented a sweeping set of gun control recommendations last week, with many focused directly on increasing safety measures in schools. According to the Politics K-12 blog, the proposals signal a shift in federal priorities—the proposals ask for increases in school safety and mental health counseling funding, areas the administration has tried to cut in the budget in recent years. Check out the Politics K-12 post for a more in-depth look at the proposals, which includes creating model emergency response plans for institutions like schools and providing $50 million for training for professionals like social workers and counselors who plan to work with young adults. The full text of the plan can also be found on the …

• Photos (1)

Tell Us What You Think About President Obama’s Gun Control Proposal

President Barack Obama presented a wide-reaching proposal for the country’s gun control policies on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama presented a comprehensive gun control proposal to the country on Wednesday, about one month after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The Huffington Post reports that the proposal includes four major sections, focusing on topics like law enforcement, mental health, school safety and the availability of dangerous weapons. Many of these measures would require congressional action and could cost up to $500 million.  The president also announced more than 20 executive orders that can go into effect immediately, the New York Times reports. These include having the attorney general review the categories of people who are not allowed to have guns, reviewing safety standards for gun locks and safes and providing training …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

pam ghaster

7:36 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013

I am behind the President--100 percent. The NRA has gone off the deep end. The new commerical they launched is offensive and totally inappropiate video featuring the President's children. This should make for a toxic presence on Capitol Hill. Exploiting the president's daughters to make there own case is disgusting. The president has offered simple solutions that will save lives. They do not …   more ›

How Many People in Cuyahoga County Have a Concealed Carry License?

The answer isn’t easy to find.

Do you know how many of your neighbors have a license to carry a concealed weapon? No? That’s because Ohio keeps those records private.  The state releases a quarterly report of all the concealed carry licenses issued, renewed and suspended by county, but that’s as far as the breakdown goes. Information by city or zip code is not available.  Representatives from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office told Patch via email that the Ohio Revised Code allows journalists to view the list of license holders, but not to copy the information. The code defines the records as confidential.  Journalists are the only individuals named in that portion of the law who are allowed to view the records and are defined as…

•  5 Comments
• Photos (1)

NRA Calls for "Armed Security" Around Schools

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre said. Do you think this would work in Westlake?

In an amazing Friday morning press conference, the National Rifle Association broke its weeklong silence following the horrific shooting of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and called for a surge of gun-carrying "good guys" around American schools. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called for a new kind of American domestic security revolving around armed civilians, arguing that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." "We care about our president, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents," LaPierre said. "Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by Capitol Police officers. Yet, when it comes to our most beloved, innocent, and vulnerable members of the …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Videos (1)

Gun Control Laws in Ohio: Too Far or Not Far Enough?

The debate has heated up in the days after the school shooting in Connecticut.

What do you think about the gun laws in Ohio—are they not strict enough or do restrictions need to be scaled back? It’s a question that has recently taken on more weight in the days following a deadly school shooting in Connecticut.  Ohio’s gun laws have been becoming more lenient in recent years, the Columbus Dispatch reports, pointing to a variety of new laws. That includes one passed in 2011 to allow concealed-carry weapons in bars.  And it’s likely that the restrictions will loosen even further soon. Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign House Bill 495, NewsNet5.com reports. According to the most recent bill analysis, the bill would loosen reciprocity agreements with other states regarding concealed-carry permits, eliminate a …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (2)

Lynda Zielinski

8:51 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012

Sing along.... 'Pack Glocks, Rugers, AK-17s That's the way to live successfully How do I know? Rush Limbaugh tells me so,'   more ›

Ohio Democrats Split On Whether Gun Control Can Be A Winning Issue

Despite a renewed debate about guns in the wake of the Aurora, Colo., Northeast Ohio Democratic Insiders are divided on whether gun control could be a winning issue for Democrats this November.

Despite the renewed debate over gun control since the mass murder in Aurora, Colo., Northeast Ohio Democrats are mixed on whether the issue can be a winning one for their party this Fall. In Patch's latest survey of influential party members in Northeast Ohio, Democratic insiders were mixed on whether gun control was a battle worth fighting. About half said they thought the issue could galvanize the state's Democrats in November, but the other half also said that would be bad politics considering the strength of pro-gun interest groups and the overall acceptance of guns by Ohioans. "Gun control is bad politics in Ohio," said one insider who responded to the survey. "Only three Ohio Governors in the forty years since Kent State have been …

•  32 Comments
• Photos (2)