COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lawmakers at the Statehouse are proposing a different approach to alleviate gun violence in Ohio communities.
Instead of introducing new gun legislation, one house bill is looking to create a task force that could lead to conversations around gun violence in Ohio.
What You Need To Know
- A proposal at the Statehouse plans to create a task force addressing guns in the community
- House Bill 421 aims to address the uptick in gun violence in recent years by opening the doors to conversation
- Ohio Gun Owners is an opponent of this proposal and criticized the way the bill language was written
Michelle Heym moved to Ohio after experiencing the impact of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. This proposal hits home because her children were at school on lockdown the day of the shooting, even though they were about 45 minutes away, she said.
She hopes children will not have to handle incidents like this. Heym now volunteers for Moms Demand Action, a nonprofit, grassroots movement of volunteers fighting for public safety measures protecting people against gun violence.
Heym is in favor of the proposal; she said.
Democratic State Rep. Darnell Brewer wants to bring together people with different vantage points to create a conversation that could eventually curb gun violence. To do this, he has proposed House Bill 421.
“Even before I stepped to the podium this morning, there were hundreds of emails from organizations opposing this bill,” Brewer said. “We invite them to the table. This is what it’s all about. They would be invited to the table to be a part of this task force, because they have a role in the voice.”
The proposal outlines who would be included on the task force. It includes: the Ohio governor, state attorney general, the executive director of the Commission on Minority Health, the director of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, three members of the Ohio House of Representatives, three members of the Ohio Senate, and two community members who work to reduce gun violence.
“This is not just legislation that we’re going to just focus on gun violence,” Brewer said. “We want to focus on the root cause of gun violence and some of the things could be Medicaid, mental health, suicide, after-school programs.”
During Tuesday’s sponsored testimony, no one expressed opposition to the bill on the committee floor. However, opponents will get their chance in opponent testimony in the future. However, Chris Dorr, the director of Ohio Gun Owners, described the task force as “silly.”
“These people are some of the most unqualified in all of Ohio to pretend they have solutions to the moral problems our society faces today,” Dorr stated.
Heym said the memory of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School lives on in her mind, but she believes extra education around firearms would be beneficial to everyone.
“I think it’s extremely important to bring both sides of the aisle together to discuss policy,” Heym said.