Part 3 of 3: The Battle For SAPA

Tuesday January 23, 2024

This is part three in our three-part series on the battle to pass the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA).

In part one, we explained how SAPA protects gun owners from federal tyranny, both now and in the future. Also in part one, we explained how we’ve improved HB51 after the federal judge critiqued Missouri’s law.

In part two, we deconstructed the myth that Ohio’s law enforcement associations are “pro-gun,” how they are controlled by anti-gun activists, and then we documented a small sample of their decades-long history of opposing gun rights and advocating for gun-control bills in the Ohio General Assembly.

In this third and final part of the series, we are going to put the microscope on top of the actual legislators who are attempting to block the bill (under the false guise of “law enforcement opposition) from getting a vote in the Ohio House.

THE POLITICIANS

So you know from our previous installment that Ohio’s law enforcement associations don’t have your best interests in mind when they advocate at the Ohio Statehouse.

Now we are going to spotlight the ringleaders of the opposition to HB51 in the Republican caucus in Columbus.

Some of these names will be familiar to you because of run-ins we’ve had in the past, but by doing so we hope to illustrate WHY they are fighting so hard against our gun rights (and thus FOR the Democrats).

Representative Cindy Abrams (R-HD29)

The most vocal opponent of HB51 in Columbus is Cindy Abrams from Harrison, Ohio representing the 29th Ohio House District (WNW Hamilton County).

(Representative Cindy Abrams)

“Sweet Cindy” has a lot of nicknames in Columbus, but a “lady” she is not.

Quite honestly, if you wanted to picture a “Karen” of the highest order, someone who just 100% embodies the phrase, “I demand to talk to your manager,” Cindy Abrams is that person (and I’ll tell you why in a moment). 

Formerly in law enforcement herself, Abrams originally scored a political appointment to her seat in 2019, bypassing the election process entirely.

In other words, the voters in her district didn’t originally decide for her to represent them in Columbus, the political class in Columbus chose her to represent her district!

But now let’s get into the weeds as we examine her voting history.

Cindy’s Anti-Gun Vote History

  • On June 4, 2020, Cindy Abrams voted with the Democrats to table HB 425, a bill that would have repealed the duty to notify. Her vote delayed passage of the bill.
  • On June 11, 2020, Cindy Abrams was the SOLE ‘Republican’ representative to join the Democrats and vote NO on HB425 outright – voting to keep the burden of notification on gun owners and refusing to let law enforcement officers initiate the process.
  • On November 19, 2020, Cindy Abrams voted with the Radical Left to pass HB 123, a bill supported by Bloomberg’s Moms Demand Action and Sandy Hook promise that lets those gun-control organizations into public schools to teach social programming (which we call indoctrination).
  • On December 2, 2020, Cindy Abrams again voted with the Democrats to delay the vote on SB175, a bill that would have given civil immunity to nonprofits so that lawful citizens were allowed to bring a concealed handgun on its premises for events hosted by the organization.
  • On November 1, 2021, Cindy Abrams voted to totally gut HB227 in the House Government Oversight Committee, stripping out the language that would have changed Ohio from a Concealed Handgun License state to a Concealed Weapons License state.(Note: it is our belief that Ohio should join the many Republican-controlled states that restore the right of a citizen to defend themselves with whatever lawfully owned tool they own, not just handguns!)
  • On November 17, 2021, Cindy Abrams no-showed when pro-gun legend Representative Nino Vitale tried to amend HB227 on the floor to make it the full-orbed Constitutional Carry bill it was before it was gutted in committee.
  • On March 2, 2022, Cindy Abrams voted to GUT SB 215, Senator Terry Johnson’s Permitless concealed carry bill, by restricting more Ohioans from carrying a concealed handgun, and gutted the portion of the bill requiring officers to have “probable cause” before searching, detaining, or seizure a firearm from a person who has a firearm.

As a reward for her efforts, Cindy earned the “Legislator of the Year” award from the gun-grabbers at the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police – the same FOP whose lobbyist Michael Weinman is viciously opposing SAPA at the Statehouse today.

Cindy Abrams is the number one opponent of SAPA within the House Republican caucus in Columbus, and during meetings of the caucus is known to use vulgar and coarse language in her rantings against it.

Why, you might ask, would someone act this if they’re a Republican? Three words…

Follow. The. Money.

Doing that paints a pretty nasty picture about who Abrams is in bed with (politically speaking, of course) to get her stacks of campaign cash.

Here’s a sample:

  • $3,100 from the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police
  • $600 from the Ohio Prosecuting Attorney’s Association
  • $500 from the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association
  • $150 from notorious RINO former Ohio Governor Bob Taft
  • $200 from Greg Ventre at the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office
  • $250 from Debra Holthaus at the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office
  • $100 from Bryan Peak at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office
  • $200 from Betty Montgomery, former Ohio Attorney General and disgraced former State Central Committee woman who is fiercely anti-gun.

Quite honestly, that wouldn’t be too bad if that was all.

But it isn’t.

“State Representative” Cindy Abrams has received tens of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and lobby firms over the country: Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Colorado, Texas… even Washington, D.C.

She’s getting money from the medical tyranny crowd (Ohio Hospitals, Johnson and Johnson, etc), the children’s gender surgery supporters (OSMA), Pfizer, the teacher’s union degenerates at the Ohio Education Association and more.

Back to my original comment about her not being a “lady…”

In December of last year, Abrams walked up to me outside of the House chamber in the Speaker’s hallway and shrilled, “f*ck you, Dorr” after she found I learned she had spoken against SAPA in caucus.

If I forgot to say it before, I’ll say it now: “no thanks, Cindy.”

Gross.

With friends like these in Republican “leadership,” who needs enemies?

(I will list Representative Abrams’ contact information towards the end of this email.)

Representative Sara Carruthers (R-47)

Representative Carruthers is another woman in the Republican caucus who has adopted the habit of parroting the debunked talking points of the anti-gun law enforcement groups to try to torpedo SAPA.

Carruthers hails from Hamilton, OH (HD47), representing part of Butler County, including the city of Hamilton, Oxford, and McGonigle.

(State Representative Sara Carruthers (right) pictured with her pal, Representative Cindy Abrams aka “Karen” (left))

Sara has been a vocal opponent of SAPA both in private and in public, despite surveying 100% pro-gun on her 2022 Ohio Gun Owners candidate questionnaire.

In fact, not only did Sara promise to vote the right way, but she also even promised to SPONSOR SAPA on her survey!

But with her vocal opposition to HB51, Sara is going “pure politician.”

“Pure politician” is when a politician will say or promise to do something in order to get elected, but who then does the exact opposite once they get in office.

This isn’t entirely a shock, however, when it comes to Sweet Sara Carruthers.

Here’s a little background about some of the bad votes she has made when it comes to our gun rights:

  • On June 4, 2020, Sara Carruthers voted with the Democrats to delay passage of HB425, a bill that would have repealed the duty to notify law, like most Republican states have done.
  • On November 19, 2020, Sara Carruthers joined Cindy Abrams to vote for HB123, giving gun-control groups like Moms Demand Action, Sandy Hook Promise, etc the authority to teach social programming in schools.(Pro-tip, Sandy Hook Promise isn’t teaching kids about how awesome the Founding Fathers were)
  • On December 2, 2020, Sara Carruthers voted with the Democrats to delay the vote for SB175, which I mentioned above with regards to Cindy Abrams.
  • On November 17, 2021, pro-gun rockstar Representative Nino Vitale made a motion to amend HB227 back into the full-orbed Constitutional Carry bill it was before the House Government Oversight Committee gutted it, but Sara Carruthers voted NO, right alongside the Democrats.

To be sure, Rep Carruthers has been forced to vote “Yes” on some major pro-gun bills, but because of her stout opposition to HB51, it looks possible that her pro-gun votes were all simply political calculations rather than principled votes for the underlying policy.

But just as bad as her straight-up gun control votes are the skeletons hanging inside of her campaign contributor’s closet. Check out her funding sources:

  • $26,400 from Brian and Gretchen Colleran, health care executives
  • $13,200 from Daniel J. Parker, health care executive
  • $13,200 from Roger D. King, a registered lobbyist
  • $750 from Willa Eversole, another registered lobbyist
  • $1,500 from ‘Friends of Ohio Hospitals’
  • $250 from Johnson & Johnson PAC
  • $500 from the Ohio Education Association (teachers’ union)
  • $2,900 from the Ohio State Medical Association PAC
  • $1,000 from Pfizer PAC

More and more, we are seeing a connection between medical tyranny funding and gun-control funding — they all seem to be on the same page.

Oh, and of course there was a $500 donation to her campaign directly from the gun-grabbers at the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio, PAC!

The fact is, in politics, it is very hard to accept large sums of cash for your campaign coffers without developing alternative loyalties, ESPECIALLY if you want to get reelected.

And of course, Sara Carruthers is running for reelection.

So it begs the question… when she’s trying to block SAPA from getting a floor vote, is she doing the bidding of her financial backers? Is she being promised even bigger stacks of cash if she helps torpedo the bill?

Those questions are legitimate questions.

Seeming to reinforce those concerns is her own personal political donation history. While sifting through the records, we noticed that she has a penchant for donating to Republicans that the gun rights community would label “total losers:”

  • $2,375 to John Boehner
  • $1,000 to Mike DeWine in his 2006 campaign for US Senate
  • $238 to Mike DeWine in 2022
  • $2,374 to Mitt Romney
  • $2,000 to Jane Timken
  • $248 to… Cailtlyn (Bruce) Jenner?!?!

I could write a whole pamphlet on the financiers behind the Carruthers campaign, including from some of the biggest gun-grabbing unions in Ohio, but I think you get the picture when it comes to Rep. Sara Carruthers.

Representative Tom Young (R-HD37)

Third on our list is State Representative Tom Young, from Washington Township, Montgomery County, currently holding the 37th Ohio House District, which includes part of Southern Montgomery County.

Tom Young is another vocal opponent of the Second Amendment Preservation Act, both in public and privately.

In fact, a couple of weeks ago when I asked Young directly if he was a yes or no on HB51, he replied, “Of course I’m a no, I’m with the NRA!”

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that statement, for the simple reason that the NRA doesn’t come to the Ohio Statehouse anymore. Quite simply, they are not for or against HB51, because they don’t have a lobbyist working Ohio right now.

For those who know him, Tom Young is not the brightest bulb of the bunch. He didn’t fill out our survey in 2020 or 2022, likely because his campaign manager didn’t tell him to.

Digging through Tom Young’ campaign contributions, we get a similar picture as the ones before, with all the hallmarks of a low-tier “rent-a-vote” politician:

  • $500 from Michael Riordon, CEO of Premier Health
  • $150 from Rachel Selby from Dayton Children’s Hospital – that is actively profiting from the trans-ing and genital mutilation of children.
  • $350 from the Ohio State Medical Association
  • $350 from Pfizer PAC
  • $250 from Rob Streck, Montgomery County Sheriff

Was Tom Young’s position on HB51 influenced by money given to him by Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck?

Is that why Tom is vehemently opposed to the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which simply defends Ohio gun owners from Joe Biden’s gun-control tyranny?

These are questions that need to be answered.

Representative Sharon Ray (R-HD66)

Occupying the #4 slot on our list is another gal, Representative Sharon Ray.

If a word could describe ole’ Sharon Ray here, it would be “yikes.”

Sharon Ray is the original Republican opponent of HB51, SAPA law.

In fact, she is so in the pocket of Ohio’s anti-gun law enforcement groups that she had to be REMOVED from the House Government Oversight Committee and replaced by another because she wanted to vote NO on the bill!

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg:

  • On November 17, 2021, Sharon Ray arrogantly voted with the Radical Left when pro-gun legend Representative Nino Vitale tried to amend HB227 on the floor to make it the full-orbed Constitutional Carry bill it was before it was gutted in committee.
  • On March 2, 2022, Sharon Ray voted to GUT SB 215, Senator Terry Johnson’s Permitless concealed carry bill, preventing more Ohioans from carrying a concealed handgun, and removing the portion of the bill requiring officers to have “probable cause” before searching, detaining, or seizure a firearm from a person who has a firearm.

I could go on and on, but by now you get the drift.

And again, let’s follow the money:

  • $350 from the gun-control lobby (Ohio Fraternal Order of Police)
  • $1,500 from the anti-gun teacher’s union (Ohio Education Association)
  • $850 from the anti-gun Ohio State Medical Association
  • $350 from Pfizer PAC (anti-gun and medical tyranny)
  • $250 from Ohio’s #1 Republican gun-control supporter, State Senator Matt Dolan, who sponsored DeWine’s gun-control omnibus bill in the Ohio Senate in 2019!
  • $695.85 from former Medina County Sheriff Tom Miller

To stack on top of that, Sharon Ray is another lowly state rep who has received tens of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and lobby shops across the country from places like Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, DC and even New York.

It is just awful.

Double Down

The four examples above represent about half of the Republicans working behind the scenes and in caucus to submarine HB51 from getting a vote.

We could continue examining them in detail, but it is the same story in each instance.

The most important thing I’m asking you to do right now is to contact these legislators and DEMAND that they stop blocking HB51, put it on the floor and TAKE. THE. VOTE.

After all, if they don’t like the bill, they are free to vote NO.

Keep in mind, as you read this the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association is working hard to sabotage HB51 by lying to county sheriffs all across the state about what the bill does, and then mobilizing them to lobby the legislature HARD against our gun rights.

So is the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, so is the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, and so is the Ohio Prosecuting Attorney’s Association.

Just like they have always done.

You and I need to fight back and fight through that, that’s why I’m asking you to take action now!

TAKE ACTION

Passing the Ohio Second Amendment Preservation Act is worth the effort that you and I put into it.

Joe Biden again, just yesterday, tweeted out his demands for Congress to pass a total ban on AR15’s and outlaw 30-round magazines.

SAPA law is the solution for the problem of the rising winds of tyranny, and it is the most powerful, peaceful way for Ohioans who love freedom to tell the tyrants…

NO.

For Freedom,

Chris Dorr, Director
Ohio Gun Owners

To read PART 1, click here.

To read PART 2, click here.