COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree: incidents like the shooting in New Albany are a tragedy, but whether anything will be done to change laws still does not seem likely in the near future.
“It’s something we’re going to have to continue to contemplate,” Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said.
“I always think that there’s opportunity for discussion,” Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington said). “Is there the political will amongst the majority? I’m doubtful.”
Over the past several years, the only gun-related legislation that has passed the Ohio Statehouse expands access, like a concealed carry law, and a bill to allow teachers to carry guns in schools. What most Democrats consider “common-sense gun control” is typically dead upon introduction at the Ohio Statehouse.
“What we do know here in the state of Ohio is we have a lot of people who get access to guns who shouldn’t have access to guns and part of that has been because of some of the policies that have been passed here in the statehouse,” Russo said. “We know that, overwhelmingly, Ohioans support common-sense gun reform, things like expanded background checks, red flag laws.”
“I don’t think I have the answer for that,” Huffman said when asked if there is an appetite to pass gun reform within the legislature. He said he wishes shootings were entirely preventable.
“Even though these terrible things happen, there are a lot of preventive measures in place that prevent them from happening,” Huffman said. “As I’ve often said, we don’t keep track of tragedies that don’t happen. Schools are better protected, business are better protected, there’s better training, law enforcement is better trained but you can’t stop every tragedy everywhere, all the time, unfortunately.”
There are currently five gun-related bills in the Ohio Statehouse, with more possible. Right now, there is:
- House Bill 5, the “Repeat Offender Act.”
- House Bill 45, to prohibit certain firearm transfers without a background check.
- House Bill 46, to allow certain persons to obtain a court order that temporarily restricts a person’s access to firearms under specified circumstances.
- Senate Bill 59, to exempt firearms and ammunition from sales and use tax.
- Senate Bill 75, to increase the penalty for failure to report a lost or stolen firearm.
House Bill 5 is a reintroduction of a bill last general assembly to, in part, increase penalties for repeat firearm offenders.
“Statistically speaking increased penalties when it comes to gun specifications and violent crimes can significantly drive down recidivism and criminality overall,” Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania), the bill’s sponsor, said.
Williams said he thinks this bill, which the governor has said he supports the concept of, is more likely to pass this general assembly than it was last.
Williams said not only does he want to increase penalties for repeat offenders but is also looking at whether there is an appetite for increased penalties when there is more than one victim in a shooting.
“Guns are reality for everyday Americans and everyday Ohioans,” he said. “What we need to understand is when violent crime occurs, there needs to be substantial penalties involved.”
Williams said not only do sentences need to be longer, but the death penalty ought to be back on the table for things like mass shootings, and said if he had his way, executions would even be televised.
“The death penalty is intended to be a deterrent towards these types of crimes and when you have an executive branch that refuses to use that deterrent, you see what the results are,” Williams said. “The death penalty needs to go back on the table, and these are definitely eligible cases that should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Williams said increasing penalties is one thing, but said the state needs to do a better job of getting the word out there when bills to do that pass.
“Increasing penalties alone is not enough,” he said. “If people are unaware of what we’re doing in the legislature, it’s ineffective.”
Legislation known as the Second Amendment Preservation Act could not garner a consensus last General Assembly. The bill would both prohibit the state from cooperating with federal law enforcement on gun-related crimes and would make it so only Ohio gun laws are enforceable in the state. Huffman said he does not like it.
“I’m not in favor of that,” he said. “I didn’t want it in the Senate, and I don’t want it in the House. It doesn’t make sense to me to not cooperate with other federal authorities and other law enforcement agencies.”
Williams said there are good provisions in that bill but having gun laws that change “depending on what administration is in office” is too confusing for Ohioans and enforcement.
“We can’t have that fluidity of our gun laws here in the state of Ohio,” Williams said. “The state legislature is the ultimate authority here when it comes to definitions, when it comes to guns and we need to be able to make that decision absent… separate from the federal government. We can protect the Second Amendment rights of individuals in the state of Ohio and at the same time increase penalties for individuals that use guns in the commission of a criminal offense. So, we can walk and chew gum at the same time in the state of Ohio.”