COLUMBUS, Ohio — As lawmakers remain on summer break, firearm laws have been a heavy topic of discussion throughout the legislative term at the Ohio Statehouse.

During discussions, lawmakers look at balancing second amendment rights, and gun safety laws within committee.

What You Need To Know

  • The Second Amendment Preservation Act is similar to a Missouri bill 

  • A federal judge just cracked down on the Missouri gun law citing it runs afoul of the United States Supremacy Clause

  • The Ohio bill was reported out of committee earlier this year

A Republican proposal that slowly made its way out of House committee aims to get rid of federal oversight of state-gun laws. This proposal is deemed as ‘The Second Amendment Preservation Act,’ and a similar law in Missouri was just cracked down by a federal judge. 

The Ohio proposal, according to its sponsors, would protect the right to bear arms. It passed the Ohio House committee, and sponsors describe it as anti-commandeering legislation. Sponsors have previously stated it would relieve Ohio law enforcement agencies from enforcing unconstitutional federal gun-control laws, executive orders or agency rule interpretations. The proposal also gets rid of references to the United States code, as it would relate to gun laws in the state of Ohio.

“This bill allows Ohio’s law enforcement to carry out Ohio’s laws when it comes to owning guns, ammunition and accessories,” said Republican State Rep Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta) in a press release. “If any of these protections are violated, the bill permits an ohioan to take action against agencies who have violated the SAPA act.”

“There is a provision in the U.S. Constitution, it’s called the ‘supremacy clause.’ The Supremacy clause says that federal law is superior to state law,” said Jonathan Entin, Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University. “Federal law binds state officials and the supremacy clause says that state courts are not allowed to ignore federal law.” 

Entin said while this bill is similar to legislation in that’s in Missouri, in his opinion there are differences in Ohio’s bill. 

“There are other things in HB 51 that aren’t in the Missouri law that may be debatable as a matter of policy,” Entin said. “But, they may withstand a legal challenge because they’re basically saying that Ohio law enforcement will not enforce laws that violate the legislature’s sense of what the rules should be.” 

Meanwhile, legal expert Douglas Letter from Brady United Against Gun Violence said the Missouri law could be considered as unconstitutional. He said the idea of state powers separating from federal powers is an idea that dates back to arguments heard during a time when racial segregation existed in the United States of America. He also says these arguments were made during the post-Civil War era when southern states tried to nullify federal laws. 

“Missouri is trying to use a doctrine that has been rejected throughout our history,” Letter stated. “And, was used to support slavery and was used to try to support segregation. And that has been thoroughly rejected. Both in the courts, on the battlefield, and in the streets of Little Rock, where President Eisenhower had to bring in the United States Army to make clear that this doctor nullification is alien to our Constitution and is clearly invalid.” 

Chris Dorr, who is a proponent of this measure, said Ohio’s bill has been vetted thoroughly. And, believes it creates boundaries between Ohio and the federal government. 

“The federal government doesn’t get to just sit there and do whatever it wants,” Dorr said. “The constitution is a limiting document upon the government. So when they stand there and say they want to do these things that are an open violation to that constitution, we’re going to take issue with it and we’re going to do whatever we can in the in a peaceful way now as the state of Ohio, to push back against that.” 

Opponents say if enacted, it could lead to more problems at a time when America is dealing with situations such as school shootings, homicides, gun-related suicides, and inadequate storage of firearms.

Reverend Dr. Jack Sullivan suggests more background checks when guns are purchased. 

“I would not want there to be conflict between the state and the federal government with respect to gun laws,” Sullivan said. “I would like a complementary relationship between state and federal with respect to gun laws, with the stated purpose being to protect the public from gun violence.” 

Now that the Second Amendment Preservation Act is out of committee, it waits on a date for when it will come up for debate in the Ohio House chamber.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Douglas Letter's name. This has been corrected. (Sept. 16, 2024.)