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Gun safety advocates urge DeWine to veto a controversial gun bill

By: Jo Ingles | Statehouse News Bureau
Posted on: Wednesday, March 9, 2022

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — A group of gun control advocates is urging Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to veto Sub Senate Bill 215, legislation that would allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons without a permit or training requirements.

Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey is one of the law enforcement officials urging the veto. And if Dewine does sign the bill that majority Republicans in the House and Senate passed, McGuffey says she will do what she can to hold him accountable.

“I’m not going to give up. I’m going to be a voice. I’m serious about this. Law enforcement is serious about this and we are not going to let it go. Governor DeWine is going to be held responsible for gun violence that results from the passage of this bill,” McGuffey says.

The bill puts DeWine in a tough spot. Last January, he signed the controversial “Stand your Ground” bill (SB175) which removes the requirement for a person to retreat before shooting someone in self-defense. DeWine says he signed it because he said he had promised to do so during his campaign.

But DeWine has also said he doesn’t consider guns to be a high priority issue. He embraced some controls on guns, especially after the August 2019 mass shooting near Dayton that killed nine and injured 17 others. Just two months later, he stood alongside then Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat who is now running for governor in her party’s primary, when he announced his “Strong Ohio” gun reform plan.

House Democrats tried unsuccessfully to add amendments to this bill that would have put some controls on guns. One that was aimed at preventing people with certain criminal offenses on their records from being able to carry concealed guns. Another would have allowed family members or police agencies to ask a court to temporarily restrict a person’s access to firearms if they pose a danger to themselves or others. That last provision is similar to one DeWine himself proposed in his own gun reform measure.

DeWine has until Tuesday, March 15^th to sign it, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. If he vetoes it, the bill could be dead because it did not pass with a veto-proof majority.