COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A Franklin County judge is allowing a lawsuit that’s seeking to strengthen the state’s process for background checks on gun owners to move forward. The suit was filed by the cities of Columbus and Dayton against the state of Ohio three years ago.

What You Need To Know

  • In 2020, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions conducted a federal audit of all the state’s background check systems
  • “We don’t want folks who have convictions for murder, rape, felonious assault, domestic violence to be able to buy a gun,” said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein

  • If civic leaders win the lawsuit, then the the Bureau of Criminal Investigation would be mandated to have records and fingerprints of anyone convicted of a qualifying crime
  • Last week, an Ohio court separately shot down the city of Columbus’ ongoing efforts to create own gun laws separate from the state
 

In 2020, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions conducted a federal audit of all the state’s background check systems. His office found several issues wrong with how Ohio was conducting, retrieving and receiving information necessary for an up-to-date picture of those who have requested or completed background checks. Following the audit, Columbus, Dayton and several gun law organizations sued, seeking a court order to require the Bureau of Investigation (BCI) to fix the state’s background check system. 

“We don’t want folks who have convictions for murder, rape, felonious assault, domestic violence to be able to buy a gun,” said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein. “That’s already against the law. We want to make sure it stays against the law, but when they do go buy a gun, we want to make sure that the dealer who’s selling them a firearm for an accurate picture knows they should not sell it to that person because they have a criminal conviction. Right now, we don’t have the confidence that’s taking place.”

Klein said several counties in the state still use postage mail to send fingerprints and criminal records to BCI. Klein said he hopes this lawsuit will force the state to allocate more funds and resources to update technology to provide consistency throughout the state.

“Having the technology where they can feed all the information for criminal convictions and charges into a centralized database that BCI has accessible access to the very core,” said Klein. “That’s what we need to get done, is making sure that there is an easy, accurate way for all of our county court systems, all our sheriff’s offices and police departments to be able to see and centralize information to BCI.”

If the lawsuit is ruled in the favor of the cities, then BCI would be legally obligated to have records and fingerprints of anyone convicted of a qualifying crime. 

Last week, an Ohio court separately shot down the city of Columbus’ ongoing efforts to create own gun laws separate from the state. The city was hoping to require gun owners to lock up their firearms when they’re not in use.