Our General Assembly is scared.
Ever since last week when the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee betrayed gun owners by reinstating our “duty to retreat” from an attacker, gun owners statewide are furious.
Gun owners are furious at the idea they have to legally “retreat” from an attacker before defending themselves.
Gun owners are furious that the legislators, who are supposed to work for US, are instead placating Bloomberg’s gun-control organizations.
Gun owners are furious that all of the time, campaign contributions, volunteer hours and VOTES for our Republican majorities at election time have translated into a knife in the back at the Statehouse.
And Web, legislative leadership is noticing now that what they’ve done is blowing up in their faces, and they’re worried sick.
That’s why I wanted to tell you about a rumored trick-play that our General Assembly is concocting to try to cover their butts — hoping you’ll forget their betrayals in the next elections.
You see, Governor Kasich has loudly proclaimed that he’ll veto any “Stand-Your-Ground” legislation. We’ve always known that any Stand-Your-Ground legislation passed would come down to a veto-override session.
After a bill passes, Governor Kasich also has 10 day (excluding Sundays) in which to decide what to do with the bill. He can sign it into law, he can let it pass into law without his signature, and he can veto.
So the timetable is very important during Lame-Duck session, and that’s why last week was so critical.
You see, if the General Assembly passed Sub-HB228 (before it was gutted) last Thursday or Friday, Kasich’s 10-day window would’ve expired on December 18th or 19th, leaving the 19th and 20th of December for a veto-override vote.
And this is where the Cover-Vote possibility comes into play.
There is widespread rumor at the Statehouse that legislative leadership is going to reinsert the duty to retreat repealer into another bill, HB142, and pass HB142 through both chambers TOMORROW.
Normally, that would be a good thing.
However, by doing so tomorrow, Kasich’s 10-day window will expire on Christmas Eve, leaving only the 26th, 27th, 28th, and the 31st of December as possible override session dates.
Historically, veto-override sessions during the week between Christmas and New Years are almost unheard of (but not entirely), because getting enough members to be present is nearly impossible because so many members are out-of-state for holidays with their families.
But there’s another problem – the General Assembly Calendar hasn’t even listed those dates as “possible session” dates – the last one of those is scheduled for December 19th!
In other words, what may happen tomorrow is that the General Assembly will come back to vote through the “duty to retreat repealer” because they KNOW they won’t be able to override Governor Kasich’s veto.
They’ll have their cake and eat it too, knowing they killed off the substance of the legislation in the first round, and cast a political cover vote the 2nd time around.
It’s pure politician, it’s pure political double-speak, and it’s pure treachery.
Ohio Gun Owners will be on-hand at the Statehouse tomorrow to see if there’s a way for this legislation to successfully make its way through.
However, to be clear, the ONLY way Ohio Gun Owners will recognize this maneuver as legitimate is if the legislature finds a way to see it completely through a veto-override of Governor Kasich.
Anything short of 100% success at this point is pure treachery.
If a successful path forward becomes clear, we will be right back here asking the grassroots to pound the ground to your representatives and senators.
Stay ready!
Chris Dorr, Director
Ohio Gun Owners
P.S. Not a member of Ohio Gun Owners?
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