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Dayton Mayor Endorses Effort to Put Background Checks for Gun Sales on Ohio Ballot
By: Jo Ingles | Statehouse News Bureau
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The group that’s collecting petition signatures to ask voters if the state should require universal background checks on gun sales says it plans to move full steam ahead. And the effort is getting a boost from the leader of Dayton where a mass shooting in August left 10 dead, including the gunman.
Last week, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley stood with Gov. Mike DeWine as he laid out his gun reform plan. She said she was not happy that universal background checks are not part of it. Now, Whaley is endorsing the petition drive to put those on the ballot next fall.
“The only answer is stronger limitations on access to guns. 21 other states have already closed the background check loophole. It is time for Ohio to do the same. Research shows universal background checks are among the most effective steps we can take to reduce gun violence.”
Whaley says 90% of Ohioans favor background checks for all gun sales and says without the threat of a referendum, the Republican dominated General Assembly will not pass a bill to require them.
Ohioans for Gun Safety is the group behind this proposed ballot issue. It is getting grassroots help from the group, Moms Demand Action, a group of about 6 million supporters nationwide that came together in the days following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. That shooting killed 26 people, most of them children. Organizers of the proposed ballot issue hope the work of these volunteers will mean they won’t have to hire as many paid petition circulators.