Kasich warns legislators not to ‘ weasel’ on gun reforms

“I think he’s got a big heart ... I think he’ll get to the right place on this. You’ve got to give him some time.”

Gov. John Kasich warned Republican legislators to not “weasel” on his package of gun-safety changes, which have received a chilly reception before the Ohio General Assembly.

“I’d really like to get my gun stuff going,” Kasich said in remarks after a Statehouse event Tuesday.

“You’re either for taking guns out of the hands of someone who presents a danger to themselves or others, or you are not. Say it.”

“Don’t weasel around on this; take a position ... Get out of the weasel, the weasel activity of ‘I’m going to avoid saying anything because I may make somebody mad.’ ... When you’re all things to all people, you’re really nothing to many people,” Kasich said.

The governor, who had ended his news conference but returned to speak about guns, prefaced those remarks by saying, “I don’t want to get in the area of selfrighteousness when it comes to my own political party, but there are just some things I think this party should stand for. I also think there are some things politicians should be able to say.”

Kasich unveiled a gunreform proposal in March, but the gun-friendly GOP majorities controlling the Gov. John Kasich about his would-be successor

House and Senate have yet to embrace the effort. The measures are getting committee hearings in both chambers Wednesday.

Foremost among Kasich’s desires is a so-called “red flag” or gun-violence protection order to allow families and law enforcement officers to ask a judge to order the temporary seizure of guns from people who have been proved to be a threat to themselves or others.

Kasich also said he talked on Tuesday to Attorney General Mike DeWine, the GOP’s nominee to succeed him, about a potential gubernatorial endorsement, which Kasich is at least temporarily withholding due to his concerns over the next governor’s treatment of JobsOhio and the Medicaid expansion of health care insurance to more low-income Ohioans.

The governor said his concern about those initiatives have “nothing to do with my landmark accomplishments or my legacies. Legacies are written when you are dead.”

But Kasich said he “very strongly” spoke to DeWine about how he wants JobsOhio to continue its jobcreation mission unfettered, and about his insistence on preserving Medicaid, particularly for the mentally ill and drug-addicted.

“I think he’s got a big heart ... I think he’ll get to the right place on this,” Kasich said of his would-be successor. “You’ve got to give him some time.”

Asked about his meeting with Kasich, DeWine would say only: “My discussion with the governor is always good.”