Brady Condemns Ohio Governor’s Proposals to Address Gun Violence as Insufficient
Washington, D.C., October 7, 2019 —Two months after a shooting in Dayton, Ohio that left ten dead and 27 others injured, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced a legislative proposal including purely voluntary background checks for private sales, and a change to the existing Ohio “pink slip” process rather than answering calls to enact a life-saving extreme risk law. This change does not specifically address the range of behavioral health risk factors that are all too frequently the precursors to self harm, interpersonal, and mass violence with guns.
Brady Vice President of Policy Christian Heyne stated,
“This is not what meaningful gun reform looks like. The victims, families, and survivors of gun violence in Ohio, including those in the recent Dayton shooting, deserve better. The bait and switch Governor DeWine has proposed would provide an optional background check for private sales where background checks are already optional. This does nothing to address guns that are being sold, no questions asked. These legislative proposals are unlikely to be effective, and risk further stigmatizing individuals living with mental illness, especially as a policy solution in the aftermath of the horrific shooting in Dayton, Ohio. Ohioans deserve real solutions to the very real violence the Buckeye State faces every day by passing life-saving measures we know work.”
Brady renews its call to Ohio lawmakers to take strong action on the laws that have been proven to save lives: requiring background checks for all gun sales, including private sales, as well as enacting an extreme risk law that gives family members, law enforcement, and other key individuals an avenue to prevent a person in crisis from harming themselves or others by temporarily removing guns and prohibiting the purchase of firearms.
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