What Does Issue 1 Mean to Ohio Sportsmen?

Regardless of who, what and why, Issue 1 is on the ballot, and Ohio sportsmen must decide – should you take an active role in protecting Ohio’s Constitution or should you continue to stand on the sidelines letting animal-rights extremists and gun-control advocates use the ballot to crater our outdoor traditions and heritage.

Ohio’s Constitution has stood for over 170 years. But animal-rights advocates are always working to undermine sportsmen, including working to change state Constitutions all across our great nation. Indeed, many ballot initiatives do not receive enough signatures to make it on the ballot, but some do. This may not be the case in Ohio today or even tomorrow, but sportsmen must take advantage of every opportunity to protect the future of hunting, fishing and trapping.

Advocates working to eliminate our way of life are steadily working their way from the coasts to “middle America.” We do not have to tell you how sportsmen have fared in the West and Northeast. It has not been pretty, with new battle lines drawn each and every day.

But it wasn’t always this way. Every time you hear someone here in Ohio say, “that will never happen here,” ask them where they get this idea. Has anything not changed in Ohio over time? It’s just foolish to believe our outdoor traditions will always be secure. Many who live in states where our heritage is regularly attacked can recall a day when “that will never happen here,” too. They were as wrong then as Ohio residents who claim the same now. Let’s work to make sure that Ohio never becomes such a place. FULL STORY