Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine continues to express concern over the rise gun violence affecting childrenBut GOP lawmakers say they have no interest in adding firearm safety regulations.
During his State of the State address on Wednesday, the governor said you can’t talk about “children’s health without talking about gun violence.”
“We have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to help Ohio cities and local law enforcement agencies protect Ohio’s children and citizens by investing in, among other things, cutting-edge crime prevention technology and increasing police staffing,” DeWine said.
The governor also said he has dispatched the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Adult Parole Authority and Ohio Investigative Unit to work with local officers.
“It was great to hear Governor DeWine say he is offering state troopers to local communities to help stem the rise in violent crime,” said Gary Wolske, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio. “While this offer is commendable, the problem remains the number of guns on the streets of our state.”
If there is a problem, the state is ready to intervene, DeWine said in his speech.
“To our mayors, police chiefs and local public safety directors, our team is ready and willing to step in and help,” the governor said. “Just give us a call!”
Wolske and the FOP have been under the impression for years that calling, making statements, and even pleading do not produce results.
Law enforcement officials have pleaded with state lawmakers to stop restricting them by passing bills that would relax gun laws — and for DeWine to stop signing them.
“Too many gun laws have been relaxed to the point where we now allow citizens to carry concealed weapons in Ohio without any training and without requiring officers to be notified that they are carrying a weapon,” Wolske said. “This has significant implications for officer safety, and along with some other changes to the law, officers can no longer check to see if someone is disabled and cannot carry a weapon.”
Democrats are also frustrated with DeWine.
“I am deeply disappointed that the number one killer of children in this state and in this country is guns,” said House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington). “The governor has spent less than a minute on gun violence.”
DeWine appears to have the same goal as Democrats, yet he has signed every bill easing gun restrictions that has come to his desk — even after a mass shooting.
Then as he he skipped our questions During press conferences in December, we had the opportunity to speak with the governor one-on-one and discuss his concerns.
WEWS/OCJ: “Do you feel you were complicit in signing this?”
DeWine: “I’m asking again this year for the legislature to look at the bill that we introduced right after the tragedy in the Oregon District and Dayton… Basically, this bill says that if you have a family member — and it’s usually a family member who knows that something is wrong with this person — our bill will give you the right to go to court. You have to convince a judge, then and only then will the guns be taken away from that person. And again, you know, urge the legislature to take action on this.
WEWS/OCJ: “But you still signed a consent form to carry a weapon without a permit.
DeWine: “Look, I don’t think this poses a real problem. The problem is, what do we do in the future?”
DeWine cited Cleveland as an example of a victory in the fight against illegal guns.
“In Cleveland alone, last year we assisted authorities in arresting over 100 suspects and seizing over 460 illegally possessed firearms,” DeWine said.
State Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland) says that doesn’t tell the full picture.
“The governor mentioned Cleveland today, but we as Clevelanders can tell a different story,” Upchurch said. “The statistics may show that gun violence is down statewide, but in urban areas, that’s all we see, that’s all we feel.”
But Republican legislative leaders have no interest in enacting more gun restrictions.
“I believe in the Second Amendment. It’s very strong in the General Assembly,” said House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill). “It’s one of those issues that, as you look at different towns and villages, how they approach it… My community is going to be very different from other communities in terms of teaching people how to respect guns and what they’re for.”
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein has fought for gun safety laws, which require gun owners to lock their weapons away from children when not in exploit and ban magazines that hold 30 or more rounds of ammunition.
Klein and Columbus attempted to force people to lock up their weapons, but their actions were blocked by lawsuits.
John Fortney, a spokesman for Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima), argued against allowing cities to decide their own gun regulations.
“What these progressive Democratic cities really want to do is use the so-called safe storage law to lay the groundwork to further restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Ohioans,” Fortney said. “That just leads to a patchwork of gun laws from city to city that are intentionally impossible to enforce, and it turns good people into criminals.”
As for background checks for private sales, he said he had the same answer. Currently, licensed gun dealers must conduct criminal background checks on buyers, but private sellers do not.
“Their goal is to suppress the Second Amendment and your right to self-defense. When firearms are banned, only two groups will have them. The government and criminals,” Fortney said. “And criminals don’t care what the law says.”
President Joe Biden just approved fresh rules from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that would require gun owners to get licenses and complete background checks before they can sell their guns at gun shows or online.
The rule is likely to be caught in court. We await Attorney General Dave Yost’s response to see if he will file a lawsuit.
We asked DeWine and his team what they thought of the Biden administration but did not receive an answer.
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ stories, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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