Crackdown mulled for repeat gun offenders
Ohio lawmakers propose harsher penalties in bill
Two Republican lawmakers want to increase penalties for repeat violent offenders caught with guns while making it easier to seal records and restore gun rights to lower-level offenders.
The proposal from Reps. Bernie Willis, R-springfield, and Josh Williams, Rsylvania Township, is the latest effort to tackle gun violence in Ohio. But previous attempts have failed, including ones backed by Gov. Mike Dewine after the 2019 mass shooting in Dayton.
According to the lawmakers, the new bill would:
● increase the penalty for those repeatedly caught with firearms despite being barred from having them because of prior convictions. The offense is called weapons under disability, which is currently a third-degree felony punishable by up to three years in prison. The bill would increase it to a seconddegree felony punishable by up to 12 years in prison for repeat offenders.
● add a three- to five-year specification for those caught committing a violent crime despite being banned from having a gun. That could increase an individual’s sentence to 17 years in prison for using a firearm − in addition to the underlying violent crime like murder or robbery.
● increase the penalty for using an automatic firearm or a suppressor in a violent crime from six years to 10 years of incarceration.
● automatically seal eligible fourthand fifth-degree felony convictions, allowing individuals to have firearms legally. This would not apply to sex crimes and other violent offenses. The Ohio
Prosecuting Attorneys Association opposes this idea.
“Prosecutors firmly believe that the state needs to do more to crack down on gun violence and to repeat criminals off of our streets and behind bars,” Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association executive director Lou Tobin said. “But we’re not going to promote public safety with one hand and undermine it with the other.”
The Republican lawmakers say their bill balances gun owners’ Second Amendment rights with the need to punish serious violent offenders. Whether they struck that balance will be debated in the coming months as the bill works its way through committees and possible floor votes.
“These aren’t just random acts,” Williams said. “The majority of gun crime in Ohio is committed by a handful of repeat offenders which are not allowed to legally possess a firearm.”
Dewine has advocated unsuccessfully for increased penalties for those who illegally have or use guns. Former
Rep. Kyle Koehler, R-springfield, also tried repeatedly to impose lengthier prison sentences for the worst gun offenders. Still, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, backed this new proposal, saying it could succeed where others have failed.
“This is a new take, a different kind of balancing,” Yost said. “Yes, “I’m actually kind of hopeful and optimistic that this bill might move forward because it doesn’t target law-abiding gun owners. It targets criminals who use guns.”
Buckeye Firearms Association supports the proposal because of that balance, legislative affairs director Rob Sexton said. “We have always wanted crackdowns on crime to be about crime,” he said, not about restricting other citizens’ gun rights.
The Ohio Mayors Alliance, a bipartisan group of mayors, said in a statement that it looks forward to working with lawmakers “to address the challenges of gun violence and improve public safety across Ohio.”
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.