House Bill 178 is sponsored by Republicans Ron Hood and Tom Brinkman, along with more than 20 other legislators.
Toby Hoover, founder of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, is convinced that the bill would put communities at even greater risk.
“And that is a pro-gun piece of legislation,” she points out. “It’s been introduced to allow people to carry concealed weapons without a background check, without a permit, without any kind of training. It would allow anybody that’s not prohibited by law in some other way to go ahead and carry a gun.”
The Ohio House will likely vote on the bill before year’s end.
According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Ohio has the 22nd-highest gun death rate among the states, and on the center’s annual scorecard of state gun safety laws, the organization gives the state a D grade.
More than 1,400 Ohio residents lose their lives to gun violence each year.
Compared to other states, Ohio has relatively few gun control laws. There are no waiting periods to purchase guns, dealers aren’t required to obtain state licenses and there is no limit on the number of guns that can be purchased at one time.
There’s also no ban on assault weapons or large capacity magazines.
Hoover says state lawmakers have worked to erode any gun law that might be considered restrictive.
“Over these years, we’ve just watched the gun lobby completely influence the Ohio Statehouse,” she states. “And so, we had seen our gun laws that we had, which were very few, weaken and weaken.”
Gov. Mike DeWine, who has previously been endorsed by the NRA, is now proposing to tighten access to guns by requiring background checks on firearm purchases, among other reforms he recently announced after a gunman killed nine people and injured more than 20 others in Dayton last weekend.
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2019.
This article is so biased.
“Compared to other states, Ohio has relatively fewer gun control laws” “Compared to other states” Ohio has fewer letters in it spelling. “Compared to other states” Ohio has more of the Ohio river running along is border. “Compared to other states” Ohio has more blacks” You get my point? It’s a stupid statement.
Then it quotes from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Which is a biased anti-gun ownership organization. There are no quotes from any pro-gun ownership organizations.
I’m just guessing but I’m pretty sure 80% of the 1400 deaths from gun violence are due to suicide.
Also gun dealers ARE required to write down a state ID number. 99% of the time that’s going to be from the drivers license. So the writer of this article is wrong.
Criminals that want to carry without a background check do it NOW anyway. So why are you against good people from doing it?
The people who write such articles just want guns banned. Just say it! Your article is biased. Just tell us you hate guns (except when the gov’t has and uses them). I’d respect you if you just said it. But no you have to be deceitful.
I would say get rid of permits but still have a card from a gun instructor saying you took a class and was trained and passed the course and cops in Cleve Ohio say they would rather see people open carry instead of concealed don’t hate on responsible gun carriers that are law abiding citizens