We have been bombarded here at OGO headquarters by gun owners across the state asking us for input on Issue 1 and how it can affect our gun rights.
That’s why we’ve put this article together for you so you can read it and share it with all your pro-gun friends and family.
But we’re not going to bury the lede:
Issue 1 is BAD for our Second Amendment rights, and we are encouraging every gun owner and Second Amendment supporter to VOTE NO on Issue 1.
Like everything we do here at Ohio Gun Owners, we’ve got the reasons to back it up, so if you want to learn more about WHY gun owners should vote NO on Issue 1, please keep reading.
OHIO’S MAP-DRAWING HISTORY
Since 1967, Ohio has had a commission (called the Ohio Redistricting Commission) in charge of drawing legislative district boundaries.
Back in 2015, the Legislature and the voters of Ohio approved a Constitutional Amendment that expanded the commission from five members to seven.
On the commission sits the Governor, the State Auditor, the Secretary of State, one member of the Ohio House of Representatives chosen by the Majority party leadership, one by the minority leadership, one member of the Senate chosen by the Ohio Senate Majority leadership, and one member chosen by the Senate minority leadership.
That makes a total of seven members, and another rule is that the Ohio Redistricting Commission must have at least 2 members that are of one political party, which means that the minority party (Democrats) cannot have less than that.
The 2015 amendment required that any proposal to adopt legislative districts must have at least two affirmative votes from the minority party in order to approve “10-year maps” that would coincide with the 10-year census.
If that voted failed, then a 4-year map could be created by a simple majority vote.
It isn’t a perfect system, of course, but here’s one key point we’d like you to remember:
The Ohio Redistricting Commission is explicitly comprised of elected officials.
Currently, the public can comment on proposed maps, contact members of the commission and discuss proposed maps, and even submit maps of their own if they would like to.
But MOST importantly, the public can hold any member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission accountable at election time if they disagree with their actions.
IS IT “FAIR?”
The opposition to the current process for drawing legislative maps (mostly from the Left) claims that the maps are not ‘fair,’ and that Democrats are not fairly represented in the General Assembly despite failing to get a majority statewide vote on ANY office in recent memory.
But who defines what “fair” is?
Fair means different things to different people.
What you think is fair is not what your neighbor thinks is fair. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ definition of “fair” is robbing from you and giving to their constituents to buy votes. You probably don’t agree.
The fact is, if you gathered 100 people in a room and asked each of them individually what a ‘fair’ legislative district looks like, you’ll get 100 different answers.
Put bluntly, the “fairness” argument for why Ohio needs to change the way redistricting is done is a total canard.
Every person has their own biases. That’s reality.
Gun owners, for example, want legislative districts that protect freedom and the Second Amendment, just like the Left would want district boundaries that lead to more anti-gunners getting elected to the Statehouse.
Our “republican” form of government gives the people’s elected representatives the ability to create and vote on these maps – the commission is an extension of the voters who put them there in the first place.
If the voters don’t like the job they’re doing, they can run against them, vote them out, recruit someone else to run against them, financially support an effort to oust them, etc.
Issue 1, which is on the November 5th ballot, would totally destroy that and replace it with absolute executive tyranny.
How ISSUE 1 “Works”
- Issue 1 creates a redistricting commission comprised of 15 un-elected bureaucrats who are selected by a panel of retired judges.The judges on the panel would be the who’s who of the Ohio court system, people like liberal and corrupt former Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor or her liberal, activist friends.
- The new commission, once picked by the panel of judges, would be wholly unaccountable to the voters of Ohio.They would be uniquely unlike the rest of Ohio government, in the sense that they would not be receptive nor have a reason to care at all about input or public feedback from the citizens of Ohio.
- Issue 1 would prevent Redistricting Commission members from being removed unless the commission itself votes members off.Willful neglect of duty, misconduct or ethical violations could not be directly addressed by the public whatsoever.
- Issue 1 will codify and enshrine partisan gerrymandering in the Ohio Constitution because the maps will be required to be drawn to accomplish a desired political outcome based on statewide election vote totals.Currently, maps are drawn according to census statistics. If Issue 1 passes, districts will be drawn to mirror federal election results (which are MASSIVELY influenced by out-of-state spending).
- Issue 1 would require Ohio taxpayers hand over a blank check to foot the bill for commission members, consultants, staff and more.
- Issue 1 would remove the REAL gerrymandering guardrails that are currently in place to protect communities from getting diced and sliced during the redistricting process.
- Issue 1 generally prevents citizens from filing suit to challenge a redistricting plan.
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO GUNS?
The obvious question we have been getting asked is, how would this affect our right to keep and bear arms as enshrined in the Ohio and US Constitutions?
That is simple.
If Issue 1 passes, the anti-gun Left will quickly establish new legislative maps that favor gun-control proponents and immediately commence passing the same gun-control laws passed in states like New York, Illinois and California.
Again, our current system starts with using the census data and boundary guardrails FIRST when drawing maps.
If Issue 1 passes, the new redistricting system will START with a political outcome and then draw maps that fit that outcome.
If Issue 1 passes, they’ll be able to draw custom maps, usher in total Democrat control of the Ohio Statehouse, and pass every single gun-control “law” you can imagine.
They’ll ban AR15’s, 30 round mags, force you to register as a gun owner, register every firearm you own, mandate gun lockup laws, pass Red Flag gun confiscation, and a whole lot more.
This isn’t hyperbole. This isn’t a scare tactic. That’s why gun owners from all across Ohio need to get loud and vote pro-gun, vote NO on Issue 1 on or before November 5th.
If you have kids or grandkids that you love very much and that you want to inherit the same state of Ohio you grew up in, the time for you to fight for them is right now.
If we don’t band together and FIGHT Issue 1, our kids will pay a massive price for it.
Fight BACK! Vote NO on Issue 1!
For Freedom,
Chris Dorr, Director
Rob Knisley, Political Director
Ohio Gun Owners
P.S. Early in-person voting is underway at your County Board of Elections, and will be available every day through Sunday.
To see where your Board of Elections is, click here.
To see when your Board of Elections is open for early voting, today through Sunday, click here.
There is a lot on the line in these elections, please get out and vote whenever you can, and take as many people with you as possible!