Between state and federal levels, there are a lot of gun rights groups. Hell, there are probably some local pro-gun groups out there I’m unfamiliar with.

What most of these groups do, at least in part, is lobby lawmakers for pro-gun laws.

On the flip side, there are also a lot of gun control groups out there, and they also lobby for various laws.

Yet it seems there’s only one group where it’s a bad thing when they do it.

The disconnect between what Ohioans want and what lawmakers give us makes sense when you understand who is pulling the strings in this state.

As the latest installment of the Columbus Dispatch series “Under Fire” reveals and as in the “Wizard of Oz,” an unseen force is calling the shots from behind the curtain in Ohio, and that force doesn’t represent the will of the people.

Ohio lawmakers are more interested in pleasing powerful and persuasive pro-gun groups like Buckeye Firearms Association and Ohio Gun Owners than they are the Ohioans they swore an oath to serve.

Due to the influence of gun lobbyists, Ohio — a diverse state with large urban centers, suburbs and small rural communities — now ranks only after Texas and Georgia among the nation’s 10 most populous states on Gun & Ammo magazine’s score card of Best States for Gun Owners.

Now, let’s understand that the editorial board of the Columbus Dispatch wrote this and started by citing polling that suggested Ohioans actually want gun control.

Their whole premise is that these shadowy organizations are pulling the strings like puppet masters.

In fact, they use precisely that term in their headline.

Yet I can’t help but note that when a gun control group does literally the same thing, well, that’s quite alright. In fact, when it’s about gun control, polling really shouldn’t matter. It’ll be presented when convenient, but the lack of such polling shouldn’t stop the efforts of Brady and Everytown.

No, then such lobbying isn’t a problem.

Why?

Because there’s a double standard among journalists. You’ll rarely find reporters and opinion writers with such a background accepting pro-gun outcomes, even if polling suggests the majority of people wanted them.

Their own anti-gun biases make it so that when Giffords comes and does the exact same thing being lamented here, it’s different.

Gun control groups are routinely presented as good and noble while pro-gun groups are universally shown in a negative and critical light.

Never mind that gun control groups exist exclusively to curtail a fundamental, constitutionally protected right. No, that never gets mentioned at all. Nor do they ever mention that when all their goals are achieved in a state, they simply shift to new goals, thus showing that they exist just to add more gun control to the law books.

At no point do they ever view them as negatively as the pro-gun groups.

So, frankly, I’m not finding it in my heart to give a damn about what they’re trying to accomplish with this. Rights matter, even when the majority wishes to see them curtailed.

The editorial board should be ashamed of themselves.