House Republicans wrongly ignore gun bill race concerns
They call this dangerous season in the legislature “lame duck,” but a better descriptor might be “true colors.” And thus far, Ohio House Speaker Ryan Smith’s colors are disappointing.
With legislators back in session after breaking for elections, House majority Republicans displayed amnesia about their recent voter-pleasing promises of fighting for better health care and education, promoting job growth and holding the line on taxes.
What came bursting through instead was GOP members’ ugly allegiance to the powerful gun lobby as they passed unnecessary and controversial standyour-ground gun-rights legislation at a time when they should be seeking solutions to dial back gun violence.
Smith showed his true colors — and resistance to addressing the issue of color — when he cut short what should have been meaningful House debate on whether the gun legislation, House Bill 228, might put blacks in more danger of being mistakenly shot than they are under current self-defense law.
HB 228 eliminates a duty to try to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense situations. Rep. Stephanie Howse, a Cleveland Democrat and president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, raised the point in floor debate that the bill could have “desperate impacts on people of color” if nonwhites feel threatened in confrontations with those of other races.
“What do you do in places and spaces when your presence, literally your face, causes someone to be fearful of you?” Howse asked.
It was a reasonable question that should have given legislators pause. But Smith gaveled Howse down and cut off her microphone after she went on to suggest that sponsors of the bill — Republican Reps. Terry Johnson of McDermitt and Sarah LaTourette of Chagrin Falls — have few black constituents and might not appreciate the full consequences of their legislation.
Smith said later that Howse had crossed a line of decorum and violated House rules by naming other legislators in her floor speech and “calling me a racist” by referencing an earlier private conversation in which she recalled Smith had said he didn’t “have a problem with race.”
Skin color should be something that legislators can talk about thoughtfully and without feeling threatened. And thin skin is not becoming on someone in as important a role as speaker. Smith will not serve Ohio well if he continues to employ such a quick trigger finger on the gavel.
As HB 228 moves to the Ohio Senate, we encourage President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican, to ensure his chamber shows the wise deliberation that was absent in the House and gives full consideration to the inappropriateness of enacting stand-yourground laws at a time when gun use is out of control and should not ratcheted up.
Besides erasing a duty to retreat, HB 228 would reduce penalties for carrying guns in prohibited locations, including universities, while forbidding cities from enacting gun ordinances.
Gov. John Kasich has vowed to veto the standyour-ground bill while urging the legislature to pass reasonable measures to reduce gun violence, such as “red flag” provisions to temporarily take firearms away from the mentally ill.
Unless the Senate shows better leadership and rejects HB 228, Wednesday’s 64-26 House vote suggests House Republicans have the votes to override a veto.
As with overzealous gun use, the better choice would be to retreat.