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Ohio Politicians Ignore Student Journalists on Gun Debate

Students at Kent State University asked local politicians for their thoughts on the national gun debate

 

It seems many local Ohio politicans have little interest informing their constituents about their stance on gun control policies.

Journalism students at Kent State University recently asked 16 Ohio politicians — every member of Ohio's Congressional House delegation — for a simple "yes" or "no" response to four questions about gun policies.

Only one, U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, responded to all four questions.

Others, like Congressman Tim Ryan, issued statements in response to the query but did not respond directly to the questions, which were:

  1. Should the U.S. ban the sale of assault weapons?
  2. Should the U.S. ban the sale of magazines that hold 10 or more rounds?
  3. Should the U.S. close the gun show loophole?
  4. Should the U.S. allow the Centers for Disease Control to conduct gun-related research?

Click here to see how your Congressional House representative reacted to the questions.

Karl Idsvoog, the Kent State professor whose class quizzed the Ohio members of Congress, said the students were not surprised that so few responded.

"What are the implications for democracy, when even student journalists asking simple, basic questions on an important issue do not expect their elected officials to be responsive?" Idsvoog said.

Related Topics: gun control and sale of automatic weapons
Are you surprised or upset by the fact so few politicians responded to the questions? Tell us in the comments.

James Murphy

12:07 pm on Sunday, February 3, 2013

all 4 of those questions were vague and left open for interpretation
that is like asking "SHOULD DOG KILLERS BE PUT IN JAIL" ---YES ---NO
without looking at what that means most people would say YES but if in the details the jail time included those who ran over a dog that darted out into the street, dogs that died as a result of a car crash in which they were driving in,and those who died attacking humans

so yes and no answers to vague questions are just traps

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Winston Smith

9:00 am on Monday, February 4, 2013

I agree with James Murphy.I would expect a better worded questionair from Kent students.
Incidently, there is no such thing as the so-called "gunshow loophole". The same exact laws apply inside the gunshow and outside a gunshow.

Strongville Resident

1:44 pm on Monday, February 4, 2013

I am in favor of some tightening of the gun laws, but must also agree with the other posters, the questions asked left a lot to interpretation and should never have been answered by any of our elected officials

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Winchester

7:49 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Spoken like a true politician. I'm sure the answers would be as vague as the questions. YES OR NO,.....

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