Senate looks at 2 gun bills Kasich backs
An Ohio Senate panel discussed a trio of gun bills Wednesday, including the “red flag” legislation backed by Gov. John Kasich that brought the father of a Parkland, Florida, shooting victim back to testify in support of stricter gun laws.
As activist groups rallied outside the
Statehouse to call on lawmakers to pass legislation, the Government Oversight and Reform Committee took its first crack at pushing something through with less than two weeks remaining before a summer break that could extend into November.
As the father of one of the 17 people killed in the high school shooting on Feb. 14, Fred Guttenberg was brought to Columbus at the request of Kasich. Guttenberg, who met with the governor in the Statehouse last month, pleaded to Senate panel for a gun law, saying that, had it been in place in Florida at the time, “my daughter and 16 others would probably still be alive.”
His daughter, 14-yearold Jaime Guttenberg, was shot in the back while running toward a third-floor stairwell during the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Fred Guttenberg said his daughter was most likely one of the last killed as the shooter moved through the school.
Guttenberg testified in support of Senate Bill 278, sponsored by Sens. Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, and Sandra Williams, D-Cleveland. The bill would implement what is commonly referred to as a “red flag” law.
The measure would allow family members or authorities to request and obtain a court order that would temporarily restrict a person’s access to guns if that person is deemed a threat to themselves or others. An example is someone with a mental illness. The bill would allow guns to be seized under a judge’s order for no longer than 14 days before a hearing must be held.
Such laws have been passed in several states,
including Florida, since the shooting in Parkland.
Another proposal, the more-comprehensive Senate Bill 288, sponsored by Sens. John Eklund, R-Chardon, and Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard, includes nearly identical “extreme risk” protection synonymous with “red flag” laws.
That bill also calls for banning the purchase of firearms by third parties, expanding data-sharing between law enforcement agencies, and outlawing armor-piercing bullets.
Eklund said the bill would bring Ohio more in line with stricter federal standards, including adoption of the federal definition of a machine gun.
The bill is the companion of Kasich-supported House Bill 585, sponsored by Rep. Mike Henne, R-Clayton.
Both bills are supported by the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, which had several members outside the Statehouse during the committee hearing.
“Red Flags Laws can save lives by creating a way for family members and law enforcement to act before warning signs escalate into tragedies,” the group said in a press release.
Critics of the two bills say the “extreme risk” protections violate due process for gun owners, but Eklund assured the committee that “the bill is loaded with dueprocess protections for the individual.”
In a message to supporters Monday calling on them to oppose the bills, Ohio Gun Owners director Chris Dorr said the bills include “no due process. No notification. No day in court. Nothing. That’s what these bills will do, and that’s why these bills must be stopped.”
Kasich said Tuesday he wants to see the General Assembly pass some of his legislation and not “weasel” around it.
“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,” Kasich said.
Kasich has called the package of recommendations he crafted with the help of a bipartisan panel a “common sense” gun plan that can appease both sides of the aisle.
The third bill discussed Wednesday did not deal with Kasich’s recommendations but instead is designed to “empower the (gun) dealer to say no” according to Eklund, who is sponsoring Senate Bill 281 along with Sen. Frank Hoagland, R-Adena.
The bill would give federally licensed firearms dealers the ability to refuse or delay the sale of a gun to anyone without being sued or held liable.
Sen. Kris Jordan, R-Delaware, raised a concern over whether the law could allow a gun dealer to engage in racial or religious profiling of a potential gun buyer.
Eklund said it is a judgment call for the gun dealer.
“This is one of those areas perhaps where the individual freedoms and individual rights clash up against each other,” he said.